Family is Where the Heart is
by SLPikachu
Summary: Dean learns he's a father and teaches his daughter to hunt like him. Starts right before the pilot and follows the series.
1. Chapter 1

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter One

The bar was quiet as Dean sat on a stool, drinking a beer. He was resting after a hunt before he had to hunt again. That was his job. To hunt down monsters that terrified and killed people. He had been trained to hunt since he was a kid. Dean wished his little brother didn't go off to college alone. Sam was his responsibility and Dean couldn't protect him if he wasn't there with him. John drives up to Stanford, now and then to check on Sam and says he's fine but it still doesn't ease Dean's nerves. To top off his uneasiness, John has been on a hunt on his own and Dean hasn't heard anything from him. John's been known to be gone for a long time but normally he calls in.

Dean's cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and saw he had received a text. He opened it up and saw it was coordinates. Dean paid for his drink and hurried outside to where he had parked the Impala, getting in. He leaned over and pulled a folded map from the glove compartment and looked up the coordinates.

"Milbank, South Dakota?" Dean questioned to himself, out loud. He guessed there was some kind of supernatural creature if John was sending him there. After a few minutes, Dean received another text that told him it wasn't a hunt, but he was still needed there and told Dean to do the right thing. Dean did not understand what his father meant but decided not to question the man about it. Instead, he asked what was taking so long on the hunt John was on.

John never responded.

As Dean drove to Milbank, South Dakota, it finally dawned on him. "Since when does Dad know how to text?" he questioned out loud to himself.

It was it was a tiny bit short of a day's drive to Milbank. He pulled up to a gated community, stopping at a closed fence. Dean punched in a code John had also sent to him when he sent the coordinates and when the gates were open, he drove through. Dean drove around the neighborhood, scanning the perfectly manicured lawns for the right house.

After driving for fifteen minutes, he came to a house with a bunch of lawn gnomes scattered around the front yard. Dean parked on the street and stepped out, staring at the two-story house. He happened to notice a little girl, peeking out from behind a _SpongeBob Squarepants _sunshade of one of the upstairs windows. If Dean didn't know better, he swore it was Sam peeking out at him.

Dean walked up the front pathway, trying to ignore the many eyes staring back at him. He stopped at the front door and pressed the doorbell. Soon afterwards, the door on his left opened and there stood a man in his fifties staring back at him.

"Uh hi, I was told to come down here," Dean began. "Is there any prob…"

"Are you Dean Winchester?" the man asked.

"Yes I am," he replied. "How do you know my name?"

"When I couldn't get a hold of you, my wife and I tried other ways and found your father's phone number. He said he would call you and ask you to come. Please, come in." The man stepped aside to let Dean in and shut the door behind him.

Inside, Dean looked around at the small, tiled foyer and wide staircase. Dean whistled, "Nice place you got here."

"Thank you, my wife and I love it here," he replied. "I'm Greg Holden. We retired nine years ago when our youngest daughter went off to college."

Dean smiled at him. "My brother left for college a couple years ago."

"Which one?" asked Greg, intrigued.

"Stanford."

"Oh, my daughter went there as well."

"Maybe the two of them know each," said Dean.

"Probably not if your brother has been there for the last couple years. My daughter dropped out seven years ago when my only granddaughter was born and hadn't been back since," he explained.

"Was that the kid I saw in the window when I pulled up?" asked Dean.

"Yes it is. Would you like to meet her?"

Dean cocked a grin. "Sure, I love kids."

Greg seemed like he was forcing a smile, too. "That's her smile, too."

The grin left his face when Dean heard that.

Greg walked over to the bottom of the stairs and shouted, "Sarah, can you come here, please?" Soon after, the same little girl from the window appeared at the railing, looking down at the old man.

"Whatever happened, I didn't do it," she told him.

Once her grandfather heard her say that, he knew she had done something she wasn't supposed to. "Sarah Lynn, what did you do this time?"

"Nothing, Papa, I swear," she tried to sound innocent.

Greg sighed. "Just come down here, there's a man here I want you to meet."

Sarah, the little girl walked over and climbed onto the banister, sliding downstairs and landed on the floor, onto her back. She jumped up not even yelping out in pain. "I'm okay," she said, cocking a grin that caught Dean off guard. It was the same one he had cocked, just moments ago.

"Dean, this is Sarah, my granddaughter and your daughter," Greg told him.

Dean stared over at the older man. "My what?" He took a step backwards. "You're joking, right? There's no way she's my daughter."

"The resemblance is very close to you, Dean and my daughter told me, Sarah's father was named Dean Winchester who traveled around with his father and brother. Is that not you?" he shrugged.

Dean rubbed at his eyes with one hand and ran it through his hair, staring at the floor. "What is your daughter's name and can I speak to her?" he finally asked.

"I'm afraid not," he answered, sadly. "Emily died about a month ago. That's why I was trying to find you. My wife and I live in a retirement community. No one under the age of fifty can live here."

Dean shot his head up, to look at Greg. "Are you saying you want me to take her?"

He shrugged, "Where else is she gonna live? We already done so much with this house already, we can't up and move now. Though we do love Sarah very much, we can't take care of her, fulltime."

"I don't have a home, though," Dean told him. "I live in dozens of motels and my job keeps me busy almost twenty-four/seven. I can't take care of a kid, myself."

"Emily was doing it while working two jobs."

Dean was starting to remember who Emily was. Seven or eight years ago, he, John, and Sam were hunting a werewolf in California. While John and Sam was out getting some research done, Dean snuck off to his own special kind of research which then led to him running into a girl a couple years older than he was. They got to talking and one thing led to another. Dean saw her a few times while the Winchesters were there but once the werewolf was taken care of, the three of them took off. Dean didn't even say good-bye.

Now, he was staring at the result of that first time he and Emily met. Sarah had his ears and eye color, along with his smile. Everything else must have been from her mother.

Sarah stared up at him, her green eyes matching his as if she was trying to use them to plead with him.

"Sarah can be a handful at times but she really is a sweet and caring little girl," Greg told Dean.

Dean looked over at him. "But if I take her, Sarah will be living the childhood I had and know things that a kid shouldn't know. It'll scare her."

"Nothing scares me!" Sarah spoke up, her arms tightly folded. "I've seen many scary movies more than once and read books about scary things, too."

He looked at his daughter. "I'm not talking about Scooby-Doo, here," said Dean.

"Neither was I," she shot back at him.

"Sarah got into my Steven King collection the other day," Greg explained. "She can sit through any horror film and not get scared and she reads books past her age group that are also considered horror. The girl is fascinated by anything supernatural."

Dean stared at the older man. "Say what?" He looked over at Sarah. Even being away from his family, his child is exposed to what he hunts? How was that possible?

Greg motioned for Dean to move closer to him and whispered, "I think it has something to do with when she was a baby, when my oldest daughter died in a fire."

"Fire?" Dean asked. "What kind of fire?" He was whispering, too.

"Secrets don't make friends!" Sarah told the men.

Greg ignored his granddaughter's comment and replied, "I don't know, my son-in-law found her pinned to the ceiling and burst into flames. I think the fire just made him hallucinate."

"It wasn't in Sarah's nursery, was it?" Dean asked, a small lump forming in his throat. He wasn't too thrilled hearing that the creature that had killed his mother had also killed his daughter's aunt as well.

Greg shook his head. "No, Sarah was staying with her aunt for an overnight visit. My daughter, Kyra loved Sarah just as much as the rest of us and always wanted to take her to give Emily some rest. Why?"

"No reason." Dean noticed Sarah was trying to lean forward to hear what they were saying, curious. A trait she obviously inherited from her uncle Sam. He sure did miss looking out for someone. On the other hand, Dean couldn't bring his only child into the family business no matter how much obsessed she was with the supernatural already.

"Sarah could really use a parent, right now, Dean," Greg broke into his thoughts. "She needs you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter Two

Dean drove to Bobby's house, taking the highway. He tried to wrap his head around what had just happened in the last hour. Finding out you were a father was never easy for a man no matter who they were. It meant responsibilities and knowing what to do in an emergency situation. Oh, who was he kidding? Dean had all that now. The only different was a seven-year-old girl who acted and dressed like a boy. It would be like taking care of Sam all over again.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Sarah hanging her _SpongeBob _sunshade on the window. "Take it down," he told her, his attention on the road ahead.

"But it keeps the sun away," she told him.

"One, the sun's not even out and two, what are you, a baby? 'Cause last I checked, that what's they are for. Now take it off my window." His voice was raising a tad bit, some irritation apparent.

"Why can't it stay up?" she asked.

"Dude, I'm not going to ask you again. Take it down or so help me, I will pull this car over."

"You asked again," she pointed out, testing his limits. "You said you wouldn't ask again but you just did."

Dean wiped his left hand down his face, his elbow resting on the door. Now he knew how his own father felt when he and Sam were kids. Dean's patients were running thin and it hadn't been two hours yet. "Sarah, I'm gonna give you one last warning to remove the stupid shade thing from my window or I will pull over and put you across my knee." He really didn't want to be the tough dad so soon, that wasn't how he wanted Sarah to know him as. However, if it came down to it, Dean would.

Sarah ripped her sunshade off the window and tossed it over her shoulder, into the back seat. "Happy?" she sulked in her seat, folding her arms tightly across her chest, staring out the window.

"Lose the attitude, kid."

"Why don't you lose yours?"

Dean shifted in his seat, annoyed. "You defiantly are just like your uncle Sammy," he mumbled to himself.

After a while, Sarah unfolded her arms and took a PSP from her black sweatshirt pocket, turning it on. She went into her music and soon, one of Dean's favorite songs started playing as Sarah sang along.

Dean glanced over at his daughter. "You like this music?"

She nodded, looking out the window again. "Mom hated it."

He laughed and started singing, too.

Sarah looked over at him. "You like it, too?" she asked.

"Of course," he smiled at her and soon they were both singing together, off key. When the song was over, they both laughed. "Man, never thought my kid would be into the same music as me."

"I didn't think my dad would be into the same music either," Sarah replied.

Dean looked at his daughter, "You're okay, kid."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Ready to start your training soon?"

Sarah nodded.

Ninety minutes went by as Dean pulled into the salvage yard and turned off the engine. Both of them stepped out. Sarah followed her father up to the house, looking over at a dog lazily lying on a hood of a blue truck.

"Is that dog friendly, Dad?" she asked Dean.

Dean looked over at the dog. "Yeah, but he's never been around kids so don't go running over to him," he explained.

"What's his name?"

"Rumsfeld."

"Rumsfeld? What kind of name is that for a dog?" Sarah questioned.

"I don't know but you better not give Bobby any attitude like you did earlier. Understand?" Dean warned his daughter.

"Yes, Dad," Sarah replied.

Bobby came out right as they were nearing the front door. "Son of a gun, you weren't kidding, were you, Dean?" the older hunter said when he got a good look at Sarah coming towards him.

"I know. The whole thing surprised the hell out of me, I'm still coming out of shock," Dean said.

When Sarah caught sight of Bobby, she stopped in her tracks. "No way," she said, softly though Dean still heard her.

"What?" he asked her.

Sarah shook her head, trying to clear it before she said, "Nothing…just nothing." She and Dean followed Bobby inside. Sarah went over and sat down on the couch, setting her duffel bag beside her.

Bobby pulled Dean aside. "Are you sure you want to drag your daughter into this, Dean? She's only, what, five years old."

"She's seven, and what choice do I have?" said Dean.

"Lots of choices, Dean. She's just a kid. Do I have to give ya the same talk I had with your old man?" The men kept their voices down so Sarah couldn't hear. She was playing a game on her PSP anyway so even if they were to talk louder, Sarah wouldn't hear.

"Look Bobby, I don't like it any more than you do, but the kid is already halfway into it, may as well finish what's started."

"So, you're gonna leave her back in motel rooms while you go off for a week, hunting?"

"No, I'm not. I'm going to train Sarah and have her hunt by my side," Dean told the older hunter.

Bobby could not believe what he had just heard Dean say. "Have you lost your mind, boy?"

"I was around her age when Dad started training me and if it weren't for Sam, he would have probably done the same."

"Dean, you're gonna take away that girl's childhood, not to mention her innocence," Bobby spat at him, still keeping his voice down.

"Again, I don't like it, Bobby but Sarah needs to learn to protect herself. She knows already, anyway. Sarah has read about almost every folk tale and urban legend known to man. She already knows about ghosts, and werewolves, and even vampires. I didn't even know they had a second set of teeth they can turn on and off."

Bobby was surprised to hear that, jerking his head back. "How'd ya manage to skip that?"

"I don't know. Pure luck, I guess," Dean answered. "Anyway, like I was saying, I figured I'd teach her to hunt what she already knows. Besides, lots of dads take their kids hunting, don't they?"

"Yeah, when it's a deer," said Bobby. "Not to hunt a werewolf or a shifter."

Dean shrugged, "It has to be done."

For the rest of the day, Dean took Sarah outside and had her shoot at tin cans and bags of sand for target practice that hung from tree branches. First few times, Sarah missed. Once she got the hang of it, it was as if she had been shooting for years. Sarah made every shot, impressing Dean. His daughter was a natural.

Practice lasted for a few hours and continued the next day before Bobby came out, announcing there was a murder in Cleveland, Minnesota.

"Are you sure it's one of our jobs?" Dean asked the older hunter.

"Family gets a new dog, suddenly husband turns up dead with his heart ripped out. Sound familiar?"

"Skinwalker?"

He shrugged, "I would bet on it."

"Skinwalker?" Sarah spoke up. "That's someone who can turn into a dog, right?"

Dean turned to look at her. "That's right. They prefer…"

"The heart," Sarah finished her father's sentence.

"Yes and when we kill it, you can't wimp out on me just because you think it's cute. Understand?"

Sarah nodded at her father. Soon, they were back on the road, heading for Cleveland, Minnesota. On the drive there, Sarah played her PSP.

Dean focused on the road. The car ride was quiet except for the car's engine and Sarah's game. He kept glancing over at the small screen as Sarah fought what looked like oversized bugs that left yellow gems behind after they were killed. He watched as she smashed the buttons, fighting through the game. Soon, a cutscene took over and an even larger bug appeared onscreen that Sarah had to kill.

"So, you like video games?" Dean tried making small talk.

"Yeah," was all she said as she fought what was the first boss of the video game.

Dean stayed silent for a while, listening to the sound effects as he drove. Eventually he asked, "How come you don't play with dolls and dress in pink stuff?"

"I've been like this as long as I can remember. I'm more comfortable this way."

"How did your mom feel about that?"

Sarah's eyes never left the screen. "She didn't like it. Mom told me I need to stop acting this way and act like a girl. She always said, boys are boys and girls are girls. Boys aren't girls and girls aren't boys."

"Wow, can you hear me way back in the fifties?" he said, sarcastically. "You can be anything you want to be. If that's how you feel comfortable than who am I to stop ya?"

Sarah paused her game to look at her father. "You mean that? No more nagging?"

He smirked, "Oh, I'm sure I can find something to nag you about."

Sarah smiled in return. Maybe this whole father thing wasn't so bad after all. They seemed to be getting along now. It just takes a little time. Plus, the kid was growing on him with every pressing moment. Dean didn't care what it took now. He vowed to be the best father a kid could ever ask for.


	3. Chapter 3

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter Three

It was very late by the time they were in Cleveland, Minnesota. Dean had stopped a few hours ago at a diner for dinner when Sarah announced she was hungry. Now, as he pulled into the parking lot of a motel and parked, Sarah was fast asleep. Dean tried to wake her but Sarah wouldn't wake up. He tried for a few minutes before he gave up and went around the Impala to her side and lifted his daughter into his arms.

Sarah leaned on her father as if Dean was carrying something dead. If it weren't for her breathing, he would have thought she was. Dean carried his daughter inside the manager's office, glad they were still open. He rented a room with two queen beds, putting it on a credit card. Dean had a heck of a time getting it out of his wallet while holding a sleeping child in his arms.

The woman commented on how sweet it was that a father was taking a road trip with his daughter as she swiped the credit card and returned it to him. Dean nodded once, thanking her as he tried putting it back in his wallet and placed his wallet back in his pocket. The woman handed him the room key and Dean left the office, heading over to the room.

Dean unlocked the door and went inside, laying Sarah on the bed farthest from the door. He removed her white tennis shoes with black markings and very carefully, pulled the comforter out from under her to cover Sarah up with it. Once his daughter was taken care of, he went outside, locking the door and pulled the Impala up, closer to their motel room, bringing their duffel bags in. Dean set them on the floor, in front of the dresser that held the TV and went over to sit on the other bed, facing the one Sarah slept on.

He removed his boots and his leather jacket and threw back the comforter. Dean rubbed at his eyes, unable to keep them open. He fell back onto the pillow and immediately fell asleep. Unaware of the dream, Sarah was having.

Sarah sat by a campfire, somewhere in the middle of the woods. She poked at the fire with a thin stick as she stared into it.

"Told ya I'd find him, didn't I?" A voice startled her from behind. Sarah looked back to see a man with short hair standing there with his hands in his pockets and smirking.

"Can I ever just have a dream without you interrupting it?" Sarah asked of the man, annoyed.

The man laughed. "Right, because you dream of camping in the middle of the woods."

"Get out of my head!"

The man walked towards her and squatted behind her. "Now Sarah, is that anyway to treat me after I helped your grandfather find your dad? I mean, come on. He would have never found your other grandfather's number on his own."

"Why didn't you just give Papa my dad's number?" she asked.

"Well, since daddy had just recently changed his number it probably would have been suspicious to him, wouldn't you think?"

"Okay, now that my dad is in the picture, what else do you want?"

"Nothing right now, but soon I will need your uncle Sammy," the man sneered making Sarah uncomfortable.

She looked around before returning to look at him. "Need him for what?"

"I can't tell you," he said. "I'll tell ya this I have some very big plans for dear Uncle Sammy. It's very unfortunate that this girlfriend of his is actually getting in my way of them."

Sarah shrugged at the man, "But why me? Why am I here?"

"I can't tell you that either but trust me, you'll know. Don't worry your little head, my dear sweet Sarah, I have plans for you as well." Something about that statement made Sarah's stomach curl up in knots. "Listen, after this skinwalker hunt is over, make sure daddy goes and gets Sam from school. I mean, your grandfather has been gone a long time."

"Is he usually not?"

"Without checking in? Nope and he's starting to be a nuisance if you ask me." The last part was mostly an annoyed thought, going into a mumble. Remembering that Sarah was sitting right there, he looked back at her and smiled, evilly.

With that, the man was gone and Sarah shot up in bed. She looked around the motel room. The bed was humongous compared to her size as Sarah sat in the middle of it. She could hear her father's heavy breathing coming from the other bed. Sarah fell back onto the pillow and stared up at the dark ceiling. Was it all in her head? Was that man even real? And were her uncle and she really that important if he was real?

"I wonder if Dad would believe me if I told him," Sarah whispered to herself. "Mom didn't believe me, and Gram and Papa said it was just a dream. How can I be sure Dad would?" It brought tears to her eyes just at the thought of her father shaming her for believing in a dream. Sarah really wanted Dean to like her. It was because of her, Emily never made it though a lasting relationship with men. No man wanted the burden of raising another man's kid, no matter how grown up she tried to be.

Then one day, working two jobs and raising a child, Emily started developing headaches that never seemed to go away. The doctors ran several tests and confirmed that a tumor had developed in her brain. Sarah remembered spending the last year, visiting her mother in the hospital and remembered how worse Emily got. The worst part was when she didn't even remember who Sarah was. Sarah prayed over and over, every day and night up until Emily died during one of her many surgeries.

Sarah sat up again and crawled over to the edge of the bed, jumping down. She went into the very small bathroom, turning on the light and shutting the door, going to the bathroom. Once her hands were washed, she headed back to the bed, drying her hands on her sweatshirt. Sarah climbed back, onto the bed and dug out her PSP again. Usually, after she wakes up from the dream, Sarah couldn't fall back to sleep. Sarah crawled over to the foot of the bed and reached down to pull up her duffel bag and pulled out her carrying case where she kept all of her games in. She pulled one out and switched it with the _Daxter_ game that was already in there. Keeping the sound down, Sarah played for an hour before she fell back to sleep.

She awoke again to the sound the shower running from the bathroom and Dean's bed empty and unmade. Sarah really had to go again, too. She crawled over to the edge and slid off this time, trying to hold her pee in, and ran over to the closed door. She knocked. "Dad, I really have to use the bathroom!"

"Hold on a minute, I'm almost done!" he called back.

"Hurry, I can't hold it any longer!"

Dean shut off the water and shortly after, came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. "All…" Sarah pushed past him, almost making him drop his towel and slammed the door shut. "…yours." He went over to his duffel bag and quickly got dressed before his daughter came out of the bathroom.

Sarah peeked her head out and asked, "Is there any hot water left, Dad?"

"Should be," he replied. "I wasn't in there that long."

Sarah closed the door and soon the water was turned back on. "Dad!" she called from over the shower and through the door.

Dean hurried over, thinking she was in danger or something. "What's wrong?" he asked, trying to keep from panicking.

"Can you bring me my shampoo and bodywash?" she asked. "It's in my duffel bag!"

Dean eased his nerves. "Why didn't you grab it before you got in the shower?"

"I forgot!"

Dean rolled his eyes as he walked over to dig out his daughter's shampoo and bodywash, taking it into the bathroom. He passed them around the shower curtain without looking. "Don't be too long, we need to get going."

"Okay, Dad."

Dean left the bathroom, shutting the door. When Sarah was out of the shower, she walked out of the bathroom, also with a towel around her middle. She got dressed in jeans and a dark green _Legend of Zelda _T-shirt that said, _Heroes are born, not made_ on the front and sat on the bed to put on a pair of black socks and her tennis shoes.

"I saw a diner down the street when I drove up last night, so we're gonna get some breakfast before we start on your first hunt. Okay?" Dean explained to his daughter.

"Good, I'm starving," she said as she tied her left shoe.

Dean had to laugh at that. "Starving? You ate a big meal at dinner."

She shrugged, "I always have a big appetite."

"You are one hundred percent my kid, all right."

At the diner, Dean ordered himself a cup of coffee first and Sarah ordered a glass of chocolate milk and shared an order of the diner's breakfast special of endless pancakes.

"Do I need to cut yours?" Dean asked, placing the top two pancakes from his plate to Sarah's.

"I'm seven, Dad," she told him, "I can eat a whole pancake."

Dean held up his hands, defensively. The fork and knife were held by his thumbs. "Just asking."

Sarah poured syrup over her pancakes before passing it to her father, who did the same. After breakfast, Dean drove over to a large ranch, parking in front of a large house. He then gave Sarah the rundown of a hunter's job of tracking down what it was they were dealing with and how to find answers. The two of them walked up to the house and Dean rang the doorbell.

A young woman in her late twenties answered the door. "Can I help you?" she asked Dean.

Dean took a fake FBI badge from inside his leather jacket and showed it to her. "My name is Agent Clark with the FBI. I would like to ask you a couple questions about your late husband."

The woman looked over at Sarah. "Since when does the FBI bring along a child?"

"It's Bring-your-child-to-work day," Sarah thought up quickly before Dean could respond. "I get to see how my dad works today instead of going to school."

"Oh, I see," the woman said. "Well, come in." She stepped aside to let Dean and Sarah in, shutting the door behind them and led them into the living room.

Dean and Sarah sat on the couch while the woman sat in an arm chair. "So, Andrea Miller, is it?" Dean began.

The woman nodded, "That's right."

"Can you tell me what happened to your husband?"

"The other night, my two-year-old woke up and Jacob had gotten up to tend to him. When Jacob never returned, I got worried," she explained.

"Didn't you think he had just lied down with your son and fell asleep?" Sarah shrugged.

"No, my husband didn't do stuff like that. He came from a very strict military family and cuddling wasn't exactly their thing."

"Did Jacob have any enemies?" asked Dean.

Andrea questioned Dean, "Enemies?"

"Anyone who would want to hurt him for anything?"

"No, I mean, people would disagree with his ways of life but no one would want to hurt him."

As the adults talked, Sarah happened to look over at a dog that looked exactly like Old Yeller, laying on a dog pillow, his head between his front paws as if he was watching and listening to them.

Andrea must have noticed Sarah was looking at the dog because she told her, "You can go over and pet him, he is a very nice dog. Yeller likes to watch over my son like a protector."

"Yeller," said Dean, "Like Old Yeller?"

She smiled. "Yes, he looks so much like Old Yeller from the movie that we had to name him, Yeller. Hopefully my son doesn't have to put him down when he's older." Andrea laughed and Dean forced one. Sarah had no clue what they were talking about since the movie was before her time.

"So, have you noticed anything strange up until your husband's death?" Dean continued the investigation.

"Like how?" Andrea asked.

"Anything?"

She shook her head. "Just the normal stuff, we tend to the horses and give lessons. That's why we got Yeller, so our son could have someone to play with."

"And where did you get Yeller from?"

Andrea looked at Dean, strangely. "What does that have to do with my husband's murder?"

"We have to consider every aspect, ma'am," Dean explained.

Her eyes grew wide. "Are you saying Yeller could have done it?"

He shrugged, "His heart was ripped out as if an animal had done it, wasn't it?"

"Yeller couldn't have done something like that."

"We understand that but like I said, we have to look at every possible aspect. It seemed like an animal attack and you have an animal living in your home. The reports also said that there were no signs of a break-in, either," he reminded her.

Andrea looked over at the dog, who started wagging his tail. "Yeller is such a sweet dog, though."

Dean finished up with the investigation, and he and Sarah left, going outside to the Impala. "Nice save with that Bring-your-kid-to-work day, Sarah," Dean told her, proudly as he walked around to his side.

Sarah shrugged, "It was the first thing that popped into my head."

They opened their doors and got in, slamming them shut.

"What do we do now, Dad?"

"Now, we do some research and see if there has been any other similar deaths like Jacob Miller's," he told her, starting the car. Dean pulled away from the house and left the property, heading for the closest animal shelter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter Four

Dean and Sarah walked inside the local animal shelter, going up to the front desk where a heavyset man in a blue T-shirt with the shelter's logo on the front left-hand side and a cartoon dog on the back. "We're looking for our dog, uh Tiger," Dean explained. "Did you by any chance pick up a dog that looked like it was from an old Disney movie?"

"Which one? Pongo, Tramp, Dodger, Stitch," the man listed off dogs from different Disney movies.

"Actually, Stitch wasn't a dog," Sarah spoke up, correcting the man. "Stitch just posed as a dog so no one knew that he was an alien from outer space."

Dean looked from his daughter back to the man, "Anyways, I'm talking about Old Yeller. That Disney dog."

He laughed, "There wasn't a Disney dog called Old Yeller."

"Seriously? How have you never…Never mind. Did you have a, um. Uh…"

"Lab, Dad," Sarah told him.

"Right, what she said."

The man looked between the two of them. "Chocolate, black, or yellow?" he asked.

Dean looked back at him with a confused look on his face. "Excuse me?" He didn't really know a whole lot about dogs and their breeds, except maybe a few and Labradors were not one of them.

Sarah let out an annoyed sigh. "Let me handle this, Dad," she told her father and looked up at the man. "He's a yellow lab, possibly mixed with something. I'm thinking maybe a Mastiff."

"Are you sure you're seven?" Dean asked his daughter.

"Positive, why?"

Dean just shook his head and turned back to the man behind the counter. "Well?"

"As a matter of fact we did pick up a dog like that about a month ago but we already adopted him out since no one claimed him. Would you like the address?" the man told them.

"No, it's fine, if Rover already has a new family, who am I to pull them apart?"

"I thought his name was Tiger?"

"Right, Tiger," Dean corrected himself. "Rover was my first dog. Boy, do I miss that dog," he lied. "Tell me, have you been getting a lot of dogs lately. More than usual, I mean."

The man shook his head. "No, just the normal amount. I worked here for fifteen years, though and I always see that dog. You ever thought of keeping him chained up?"

Dean and Sarah exchanged looks between each other. Dean may not have been a dog expert but even he knew that was a long time to see a dog.

"Weird part is, he always manages to escape this place. Maybe chained up wouldn't hold him either," he shrugged.

Dean cleared his throat into his fist. "This may seem like a random question but in that fifteen years, have you heard of any murders that involved the victim's heart ripped out?"

The man thought about it. "Actually, usually after the dog escapes there's a murder. We never thought of any connection. Why, do you think your dog has anything to do with it?"

"Well, ever since he stole that hunk of meat off the kitchen counter, ol'Tiger hasn't been his usual self. Will you excuse us? Thank you for your time." Dean turned and speed-walked out of the animal shelter as the man yelled out, "thanks for stopping by."

Sarah hurried after her father, running to keep up with him. "Now what?" she asked.

"It's defiantly Old Yeller, all right," he replied as they parted ways on either side of the Impala. "Now, we just have to shoot the sonofabitch and we can be on our way."

Both of them opened each door and got in the Impala. "Wait, we're just gonna kill a family's pet?"

"It's not a pet, Sarah it's a human being posing as a dog. Did I not say don't wimp out on me?"

"But Dad, this family loves the dog."

Dean turned in his seat to fully face his daughter. He knew there would be hard moments like this to explain the hard truths of the hunting world. Sarah was still just a kid no matter what and the things he and now her as well, had to do would be hard for her to hear but was necessary. "Listen Sarah, if you have read about Skinwalkers, then you know that they are natural-born monsters and would kill anything in its path. If we don't gank this sonofabitch, it may kill the rest of the family if it hasn't already. Do you understand?"

Sarah stared down at the floor in front of her. "I know, I just didn't think it would be this hard, you know. A kid who's two isn't gonna understand that his dog is actually a human and was the one that killed his dad. All he sees is that it's his dog and I don't want him to be sad."

Dean was resting his arms on the steering wheel and the back of the front seat. He looked away. "It's hard when a kid learns the harsh truth of the world, trust me I know. I learned when I was four years old when my mom died."

"I know," she said without thinking.

Dean snapped his head back to look at her. "What?"

Sarah suddenly looked at him, as well. "I mean, I know how you feel."

He eased his shoulders, calming down. "Yeah, it wasn't easy losing your mom, huh?" Dean moved his right hand from the back of the seat to Sarah's collarbone, squeezing it gently. "And I can tell ya, you never really get over it either, but you have to stay strong. That kid will be sad about losing his, I'm sure best friend but after a while he will be okay. I promise."

Sarah stared up at her father's eyes with sadness in hers. Soon, tears appeared and she jumped on him, squeezing his neck. It surprised Dean but he just wrapped his arms around her after a while and rubbed her back, up and down.

"I'm really sorry, Sarah," he told her, silently.

Sarah sat back on her left foot, wiping her eyes dry. "About what?"

"About bringing you into all this. About training you to hunt and do things a kid shouldn't be doing. It ain't right, you should be going to school and playing around. You know, being a kid."

"Dad, can I tell you something I never told anyone else?" she asked him.

"Sure."

"Since I started Kindergarten, being a kid always felt awkward to me. I mean, sure I play video games and I have a huge trading card and action figure/car collection, and I like wrestling for fun and cartoons, I never liked playing with other kids. I would rather be with grown-ups. I never had a clue what they were saying, half the time but it was better than playing house with the kid next door. On Thanksgiving, I was always tossing the football with the teenagers."

Dean, who was staring at the seat between them, looked up at his daughter. "What did your mom think of this?" he asked, curious.

She shrugged, "Mom didn't know what to think. She took me to a lot of psycho-collie-gists where they asked a lot of questions about school and at home."

He smiled at that. "Psychologist," he corrected her.

"Yeah, that."

Dean changed back to being serious. "Let me ask you something, when did you start wanting to read about this stuff?"

Sarah hesitated before she answered, "Two years ago when…"

"When what?"

Sarah turned around in her seat and stared at the window handle.

"Are you not going to tell me?" he asked.

She shook her head not looking at her father.

"I'm not here to judge you, and you won't be in trouble if that's what you're afraid of."

"You wouldn't believe me," she told him. "Mom didn't. Gram and Papa didn't."

Dean turned his voice up and tougher. "Why don't you try me? I'm not them, Sarah. Last time I checked, my name was Dean Winchester, not Emily…" He paused, trying to remember Emily's last name."

Sarah looked back at him, "Its Holden, Dad."

"Right, Holden."

"How did Mom know your last name but you don't know hers?" she questioned her father.

"It was seven years ago and I had other things on my mind since then." Dean realized they had gotten off subject and changed it back. "Quit trying to change the subject and tell me when you started reading about this stuff."

"I can't, okay," Sarah blurted out. "I want to but I can't. It's not something that people usually have and I don't want you to think I was a freak." Tears were filling her eyes again and ran down both sides of her face. She looked out the window.

Dean shrugged, "If it makes you feel any better, your uncle, grandfather, and I, we're probably freaks ourselves with what we do."

Sarah sniffled, "It doesn't."

Dean looked away for a moment before he asked, "If I back off and not nag you about it, would you eventually come to me and tell me when you're ready? I want to help, Sarah, I really do. I can't if you don't let me in, though."

"Maybe," she admitted.

Dean pulled her closer to him with his arm wrapped around her and kissed the side of her head, right above her left ear. "Even though it's only been a couple days, I love you, kid." He let go and faced forward, starting the engine. Dean backed out of the parking space and drove out of the parking lot, returning to the Millers' ranch.

When he pulled up to the ranch and parked, he and Sarah saw Andrea Miller leaning against the metal fence, rubbing a brown and white colt's neck. They stepped out of the Impala, shutting their doors. When Dean and Sarah walked closer to Andrea, they saw she was crying.

"Andrea?" Dean spoke up.

Andrea looked back at them and quickly wiped her face dry. "What are you doing back here?" she asked of them.

"We came back to follow up, what's wrong?"

"Right after you left, my little boy and Yeller disappeared. I went to check on him and he wasn't in his bed. I looked all over the house and property and that's when I saw Yeller was gone, too." Andrea lost it, completely, crying hysterically. "I don't know who could have done it. All doors and windows were locked and there was no sign of a break-in."

Dean took the woman into his arms and comforted her. "It's gonna be all right, okay? We'll find your son," he promised her.

"My husband dead and now this?" she sniffed in his arms. "Why is this happening?"

Sarah made to open her mouth to answer when Dean shook his head at her. When they were driving again, he explained to her how the family business was a secret and that no one should ever find out what they did.

Before they left again, Dean and Sarah took a look around the house for any clue of anything that could help them. All they found was a pet door the size of a dog and small child could get through but if Dean tried, he would probably get stuck. So, Dean headed back to the motel to think things over.


	5. Chapter 5

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter Five

Dean picked up lunch for him and his daughter, and took it back to the motel room. The two of them sat at the small table in front of the window by the door, eating. Dean looked through reports of other murders from the last few years like Jacob Miller trying to figure out how to find where Yeller had taken the Miller kid.

Dean tossed the one he had been looking over, onto the table and rubbed his face in his hand. "There absolutely nothing we can go on that might help us find the damn thing."

"Maybe we can put up signs to find him," Sarah suggested. "When Mom and I lost our cat, Zeppelin that's how we were able to find him."

He lowered his hand and finished eating his French fries. "It's not that easy, Sarah. This isn't your normal house pet like I said before, you can't just put up signs and expect to find it like that. Skinwalkers can be anyone and if they feel they need to they can change into a human anytime."

Sarah looked down at what was left of her cheeseburger.

"Good suggestion, though, I like that you're trying." Dean felt badly for shooting her suggestion down but they had to be reasonable and putting up "lost dog" signs wasn't going to help them in the least on this hunt.

When both of them finished eating, Sarah offered to take their trash out to the dumper. She ran over and threw the full paper bag into the large, metal dumper like she was in a basketball game and had ten seconds to score or her team would lose. When Sarah turned around, she saw the Miller's dog standing there, staring at her. Her eyes opened wider and yelled for Dean. "Dad, I found…"

A tall man with black, short hair came up and grabbed Sarah, gripping her around the middle. His left hand was over her mouth, trying to stifle her yells. Sarah tried to break free from the man's grip as a light blue van pulled up. Her heart was beating fast as Sarah felt the most she ever been scared as she continued to break the guy's grip.

Finally as the man handed Sarah off to another inside the van, she managed to scream, "Dad!" at the top of her lungs.

Dean's head shot up, towards the window just in time to see the man and Yeller jump into the back of the van. He sprang to his feet, pulling his gun out from behind him and sprinted outside. He tried to shoot at the men but missed when they shut the doors and drove off. Dean jumped into the Impala and quickly sped after the van. The whole time he was driving, Dean kept beating himself up about how he let this happen. Why did he let Sarah go outside by herself? The trash was perfectly fine just sitting on the table. After he gets his daughter back, Dean told himself that Sarah would never leave his sight again. Unless he was with her, Sarah had to stay in the motel room.

Sarah was awakened by barks and growls and a painful feeling in her arms and legs. She also couldn't move them, either since they were tied up. She looked around at several different kinds of dogs, not even paying attention to her. Sarah noticed a puppy next to Yeller that looked just like him. She prayed, hoping that puppy wasn't the Millers' kid.

Even though Sarah heard barks and growls from the dogs, they were actually communicating with each other. "I don't understand! Why hasn't the kid been affected by our bites?" a German Shepard snarled.

"It's like she's immune or something," a large poodle said.

Meanwhile, Sarah tried to sit up which wasn't easy considering she had no use of her hands. After struggling for a good ten minutes as the dogs continued to bark and growl over her, Sarah managed. One of the dogs noticed and informed the rest of the pack she was awake.

The German Shepard stepped towards the little girl and shifted into a tall, dark blond-haired man in a collared shirt and black slacks. He walked around her, watching Sarah's every move as she watched him, too. "What are you? Why can't we convert you?" he finally demanded.

Sarah shrugged, terrified out of her mind. She shook from head to foot, trying to ignore the pain coming from her body. "I want my dad," she managed to respond.

The man stopped and fully faced her, slowly sliding his hands into his pockets. "We normally have to kill parents who get in our way but you were just out in the open. Possibly one of our cleanest kidnappings ever."

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked, nervously.

The poodle had transformed into a human next. It was a woman this time, with long brown hair. She wore a black skirt with a matching blouse, including heels. "Usually we recruit adults into our pack but now we have decided to focus on little pups. So, when our friend, Austin here," she nodded over at Yeller, "informed us a hunter and his kid was in town, we just had to get our paws on a mini hunter-in-training." The woman smiled an eerie smile that made Sarah uncomfortable.

"I will never join you!" Sarah tried to be brave.

"Don't worry, if you don't change soon you won't have to," the man told her.

She looked back at him. "You'll let me go?"

He shook his head. "No, we will make you the main course for dinner." The man motioned for two Rottweilers who stepped towards her, growling at Sarah as they bared their sharp teeth. Right as one of the dogs were about to lunge for her, Dean came bursting through the door, holding his gun.

"Get away from her, you mangy mutts!" he exclaimed, holding the gun with both hands.

Sarah was excited to see her father had finally found her. "Dad!"

The man ordered the Rottweilers to attack Dean instead, who turned around. Dean shot at both dogs, quickly. They dropped dead onto the cold, hard ground. One by one, he shot the rest as Dean fought for his and his daughter's lives until it was down to him, and both the poodle and German Shepard. "Let the kid go," he ordered them.

The man shook his head. "You want her than you have to go through us," he told him.

Dean raised his gun at him in both hands, "That can defiantly be arranged, you son of a bitch."

The man grabbed Sarah up and used her as a shield. "Watch where you're pointing that thing, you don't want to shoot her," he sneered.

Dean stared at him. He saw how terrified his daughter looked and the tears in her eyes, that it actually broke his heart. "I swear, if you don't let her go I will rip you to shreds."

The woman stepped towards him, folding her arms, lightly as she grinned. She changed back into the poodle and pawed at the ground as she bared her teeth.

"Yeah, that's threatening," Dean said, sarcastically, who expected a more vicious kind of dog.

"Don't underestimate my darling, Kendra. Her bite is much worse than her bark," the man told him.

The poodle than lunged for Dean, knocking him onto his back as his gun was flung out of his hand and away from his reach.

"Daddy!" Sarah cried out in fear.

The poodle tried to rip into him but Dean held the dog back by her throat. As Sarah watched her father fight with it, her anxiety rose. Tears poured from her eyes like a waterfall. Suddenly, something happened and the poodle was shot back against the far wall. It then slid down and collapsed on the ground.

Dean was at a loss for words. He had no clue what just happened. Dean looked around the room but no one else was there with the four of them. Getting his focus back, he quickly grabbed his gun and shot the poodle before turning back to the man. "It's just you and me, pal," he told him.

Scared out of his mind from the sudden attack of his fellow Skinwalker, the man dropped Sarah and tried to make a run for it. Dean had other plans though and shot him in the back. The man dropped dead, landing on his face.

Dean took a deep breath, thankful it was over since that was his last silver bullet he had on him at the moment. When Sarah scrambled to her feet, she ran over to her father and hugged him around the legs. Dean pulled her arms away long enough to kneel down and set his gun down on the ground before he pulled her into a hug, himself. It wasn't long before he realized Sarah was covered in blood. He shoved her back and looked his daughter in the face, "Did they bite you?"

Sarah shrugged, terrified of her father's sudden raised voice. "I don't know, I think so. It hurts all over, Dad."

Dean looked away. This could not be happening. Dean did not want to have to kill his own flesh and blood, especially someone so young. He shot to his feet and grabbed his gun before hurrying Sarah outside to where the Impala was parked. Dean then opened the trunk and raised the door to the hidden compartment where he kept all the weapons, and began looking for something. After a few minutes, he pulled out a long, silver knife and then kneeled to Sarah's level again. Removing her sweatshirt for her, Dean tossed it into the trunk. "Show me your arm, Sarah."

"Why?" she asked, nervously. Sarah had been eyeing the knife since her father pulled it out. She then realized that the knife was silver and remembered that you must use some kind of silver to kill a Skinwalker. Sarah backed away. "No, please, Dad. I promise I won't hurt or kill anyone."

"I'm just checking to make sure first," he assured her.

"But if I was bit…"

"Sarah, please just humor me," Dean told her. "Don't make this harder than it already is."

Sarah hesitated before she stepped forward again and held her left arm out to her father, looking away. Dean took ahold of her wrist with his own left hand and moved the knife towards the middle of her arm. He wasn't sure why he was checking though when they both knew Sarah had been bitten and would surely change. However, once the blade went into her skin, all that happened was Sarah crying out from the pain. It surprised Dean that nothing did happen.

"How is that possible?"

"No more, Daddy," she continued to cry, softly, still looking away with her eyes shut tight.

Dean dropped the knife and pulled his daughter back into his arms. He was not sure how Sarah could be immune to a Skinwalker's bite but he was thankful she was.

Back at the motel room, Dean cleaned off the blood and bandaged Sarah up. Since the first-aid kit didn't come with rubbing alcohol, he had to make do with a bottle of beer. Once that was all settled, Sarah changed into her pajamas in the bathroom.

Dean sat on his bed, trying to reach his own father. Each time, it went to voicemail. Finally, he just left a message. "Dad, It's me again. Where are you? This isn't like you not to call." When he closed his phone, Sarah was climbing onto the bed and crawled over to him, dressed in striped pajama pants and an old, blue faded Pikachu T-shirt and barefoot.

She sat next to her father and snuggled against him. "Did I fail my first hunt, Dad?"

"No, it's not your fault for getting kidnapped. They're all dead, it's over now." Little did they know that the pup had snuck out from the Skinwalkers' hideout and somehow managed to find its way to the Millers' ranch. "From now on, though, I don't want you ever leaving the motel room unless I'm with you. Understand?"

Sarah nodded up at him. "Yes, Dad."

"I really hate to admit this, but seeing you get kidnapped scared me to death. It felt like I was going to lose you, kiddo," he continued.

"Really?"

Dean nodded at her. "I don't ever want you out of my sight again."

"I don't get it though, why haven't I turned into a dog yet?" she asked.

"I honestly have no idea and glad I don't have to kill ya. I don't think I could ever hurt someone I love, like that." Dean had his arm around his daughter as they talked, holding her close. Soon, he switched on the TV and watched _Looney Toons_ until they fell asleep. Dean slept with his arm wrapped protectively around her the whole night.

Dean checked his phone as the two of them packed up to leave. His inbox was empty with no message of any kind. "Something's wrong," he finally announced.

Sarah looked up from her duffel bag, "What?" she asked.

"Your grandfather has been on the same hunt for a while," he explained to his daughter. "He's usually back by now."

"Do you think something happened to him, Dad?"

Dean zipped his duffel bag closed and flung it over his shoulder. "Come on, we have to stop by California and pick up your uncle."

Sarah finished packing and quickly followed her father out to the Impala where they placed their bags in the trunk before getting in, themselves. Dean dropped off the room key and took off for California.


	6. Chapter 6

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 6

Flames lit up the dark ceiling as a young woman clung to it, looking down. She had long, blond hair and had a very beautiful look to her. A young man's voice shouted out. "No!"

Suddenly, Sarah shot out of a sound sleep. She was in her father's Impala and it was still dark. She looked around and saw they were parked.

Dean was staring at her. "You okay, kiddo?" he asked, concerned.

Sarah took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from her face. "Yeah, I just…had a bad dream again."

"Well, come on," he said, opening his door. "We're here." The both of them got out the Impala and walked up to the quiet dormitory. Sarah followed close behind as they hurried up a few flights of stairs. A young man in his mid-twenties was walking the way they were going and Dean asked if he knew which dorm was Sam's. The man pointed over to a door and continued on. When Dean and Sarah came to Sam's dorm, Dean took out a lockpick and started picking at the lock.

Sarah stared at her father, clueless. "If Sam is your brother, Dad, then why are we breaking into his house?" she asked.

"'Cause," he flashed a grin. "I want to have a little fun with him. See if he still got it."

Sarah looked back over her shoulder, nervous they would get caught before they even made it inside. Finally, she snapped forward again when she heard the door open.

"Come on," Dean whispered to her and very quietly, father and daughter made their way inside the dormitory. It was dark and quiet inside, too. "Stay here," he said as he shut the door, slowly without making a sound. "I'm gonna see what your uncle Sammy keeps in his fridge."

"Wait, Dad, I thought we were here for him, not his food. Isn't that stealing?"

"Relax, he won't mind." Dean walked off, leaving Sarah alone.

"Dad!" Sarah exclaimed but in a low voice before she sighed. "And Papa says I'm a bottomless pit when it comes to food." Sarah looked around at the dark dormitory. She noticed a framed photograph of a man and a woman together, the moonlight glistening off of it. Stepping closer, she saw that the woman had long, blond hair. But it wasn't the same woman from the dream she just had. No, this was a different woman.

Suddenly, she felt someone come up behind her. Sarah turned around, remembering what Dean had taught her about never pausing during a reaction and slammed her fist right into the tall shadow. The shadow yelped out in udder pain, falling to his knees and whatever was in his hands landed on the floor with a loud clang.

Sarah was backing away in sheer terror when realization hit her. "Are you Sam?" she asked the shadow.

The shadow was finding it hard to respond from the pain. At that moment, the light came on and when Sarah looked over to see who had turned it on, to her surprise was the young woman from her recent dream. Her eyes grew large as she continued to stare at her.

"Sam? Is everything all right?" the woman asked. When she saw Sam on the floor in pain, she rushed to his side, kneeling beside him. "Sam, what happened?"

"Get…me…some…ice…please…" Sam said, painfully.

The woman stood up and rushed to the kitchen as Dean came rushing into the room. Sarah was now apologizing over and over again to Sam.

"Sarah, what the hell did you do?" Dean demanded of his daughter seeing his brother curled up on the floor, clutching his private area with her standing back a few feet.

Sarah looked up at her father and saw he was not happy at all. "I said I was sorry, Dad. I was looking at a picture when Uncle Sam came up behind me and scared me to death. I instantly reacted like you told me to and I guess I punched him in the private. I really am sorry, Uncle Sam."

Dean could see tears forming in his daughter's eyes by now and start to flow down her cheeks as Sam was now, very slowly sitting up onto his legs. Dean was now beside his younger brother, making sure he was all right.

"Dean…what the hell are you doing here?" Sam managed to ask as the pain was starting to lighten up a bit.

"I was looking for a beer," he grinned at his brother.

Sam slowly raised his head and asked the same thing again, only with more annoyance.

Dean's smile vanished. "We need to talk."

"The phone?"

"If I had called, would you have picked up?" Dean asked, already knowing full well Sam wouldn't have answered.

The woman returned with an unopened bag of frozen peas. "This was all I could find in the freezer, Sam," she said, handing it to him. With Dean's help, the two of them got Sam over to the couch where he gladly placed the peas over where it hurt.

"Boy, that kid can punch," Sam finally said when another streak of pain jolted through.

"I teach her everything I know." Dean smiled, glancing over his shoulder. That's when he noticed that Sarah was still standing in the same spot, softly sniffling to herself. Right then and there, Dean finally saw the seven-year-old in her. He excused himself and went over to Sarah, kneeling in front of her. "Hey, look at me," he told her, softly.

Sarah shook her head, staring at the floor.

Dean placed his fingers under her chin and gently raised it so that she was looking at him. "I'm not mad, okay. Your uncle snuck up on you. It was an instant reaction and you will not be punished for it. Plus, you said you were sorry, right?"

She nodded.

"And Uncle Sam forgives you," he looked back over his shoulder at his brother, "right, Sam?"

Sam and the woman exchanged glances between each other and shrugged before Sam replied, "Uh, yeah. All is forgiven." He gave his, apparently, niece a reassuring smile.

Dean turned back to his daughter. "See, everything's okay. Now, your uncle and I have to talk. Okay?"

Sarah nodded, wiping her eyes dry as she sniffed one last time and continued looking at the photo from before.

Dean stood up. "So, who is this lovely lady?" he asked, looking over at the woman who was sitting beside his brother.

"Dean, this is my girlfriend, Jessica," Sam introduced. "Jessica, this is Dean."

The woman, Jessica looked between the brothers, surprised. "Wait, your brother Dean?" she asked.

Dean smiled. He noticed Jessica's shirt. "I love _the Smurfs_. But I gotta tell ya, you are way out of my brother's league."

"Ah, maybe I should go put something on."

"Oh no, I wouldn't dream of it," he told her. "But anyway, I have to borrow your boyfriend to talk about some private family business."

"Okay, I will leave you two alone." Jessica made to stand up when Sam stopped her and looked up at his brother.

"No, whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of her."

At that point, Sarah returned to her father's side. Dean looked down at her, running his fingers through her hair and then returned his gaze to Sam. "Okay, uh Dad hasn't been home in a few days."

Sam shrugged, "So Dad's working overtime on a miller time shift he'll stumble back in sooner or later."

Dean removed his hand from Sarah's head and said, "Dad's on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days."

Sam nearly dropped the frozen peas as he stared up in shock at what his brother just said. Finally, he excused Jessica from the room so they could talk in private. Since Sam still wasn't able to stand yet, the brothers had to keep their voices down instead of going outside.

"You can't just break in here, Dean and expect me to hit the road with you," Sam was telling his brother.

"You're not hearing me, Sammy," said Dean. "Dad's missing and I need your help to find him."

"Remember the poltergeist in Steinburg?" Sam reminded him. "And the Devil's Gate in Clifton? He was missing then, too. He's always missing and he's always fine."

"Not for this long. Now are you gonna come with me or not?"

"I'm not," Sam said and removed the peas from his lap, the pain finally completely gone. He stood up and headed into the small kitchen to return them to the freezer.

Dean followed, "Why not?"

Sam shut the freezer door and turned around to face Dean. "I swore I was done hunting. For good."

"Come on, it wasn't easy but it wasn't that bad."

"Yeah, when I told Dad I was afraid of the thing in my closet he gave me a .45"

"What was he supposed to do?" Dean asked.

"My mom just told me there wasn't anything my closet and told me to go back to bed, that I shouldn't be afraid," Sarah added to the conversation.

Sam held his hand out his niece as if she just answered Dean's question.

Dean glanced down at Sarah and then back at Sam. "Of course you should be afraid you know what's out there."

"Dean, shut up, your kid can hear you," Sam told him.

"She knows what's out there, too," he added.

Sam stared at his brother in disbelief. "You told her the truth?" Dean's comment about him teaching her everything he knew suddenly made sense to Sam. "You dragged your own kid into the family business?"

"Sarah already knew what was out there, I just taught her how to protect herself against them."

Sam moved closer to his brother. "So, what, you leave her alone in motel rooms while you go off on hunts, keeping her isolated?"

"No, she hunts alongside me, Sam."

He took a step back. "You what?" Sam asked. "Dean, she's what, like five years old."

"Seriously, where is everyone getting five from?" said Dean. "Sarah is seven, Sam and like I told Bobby, I don't like it either but I didn't have any choice in the matter. She is already way down deep into it. In fact, she has been since she _was_ five, like she was meant for this life or something."

Sam just shook his head at his brother. "I knew after all the sleeping around you do, it would come around and bite you. If I ever had a kid, I would make sure they never knew the truth. I mean, the way we grew up after Mom was killed and Dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her. But we still haven't found the damn thing. So, we kill everything we can find."

Dean shrugged, "Save a lot of people, too."

"You think Mom would have wanted this for us? Do you think Sarah's mom wants this for her?"

Dean didn't respond. Instead, he walked out of the kitchen and left the dorm. Sarah followed close behind and Sam after that.

"The weapon training, and melting silver into bullets?" Sam added when they got outside. "Man, Dean, we were raised like warriors and that's exactly how Sarah will be raised, too."

"So, what you're just gonna live some normal apple pie life?" Dean asked, turning around to face him.

"No, not normal," he replied. "Safe."

"And that's why you ran away." Dean scoffed and looked away.

"I was just going to college, it was Dad who said that if I was going to go, I should stay gone and that's what I'm doing."

Dean returned his gaze to him. "Yeah, well Dad's in real trouble right now if he's not dead already. I can feel it. Sarah and I can't do this alone."

"Yes, you can," said Sam.

"Yeah, but I don't want to."

Sam took in a deep breath through his nose and let it out, thinking it over before he finally asked, "What was he hunting?"


	7. Chapter 7

**I wanted to say thanks for the reviews, favorites, and followers. It makes me want to continue better when I see that someone likes a story, very well and I hope you continue to enjoy it.  
**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 7

More fire burned as Jessica clung to ceiling. The whole room lit up in flames as Sam watched in horror, helpless to do anything. Sarah shot up in the backseat of the Impala, her small face drenched in sweat. It was daylight in the midmorning hours. The Winchesters had stopped off at a gas station for gas and Dean's definition of breakfast.

It took a little more convincing on Sam's part to come with them, but after Dean promised to have him back by Monday morning for his college interview, he agreed.

Sam looked back over the front seat from looking through Dean's cassette tape collection, at his niece. "You okay, Sarah?" he asked.

Sarah pulled her sleeves over her hands and used them to wipe the sweat from her face. Why was she dreaming about her uncle and his girlfriend for anyway? Did it have anything to do with that guy from her other dream? Sarah looked up at her uncle, who was still looking at her. She thought about if she should tell Sam about the dream. He had the right to know if it was about _his _girlfriend anyway. But would Sam believe her, was what Sarah worried the most. Sarah would take it as just a dream if it weren't for the fact that there had been other dreams that had come true.

She looked around for Dean and saw he wasn't anywhere near the Impala. Figuring he was inside the gas station, Sarah returned her gaze to her uncle. "Uncle Sam," she began.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Um…you know your…"

At that moment, Dean walked out of the gas station with a plastic bag of food and drinks. He walked over and looked inside the Impala to see if his daughter was awake yet and tossed a bottle of Nestle Quik chocolate milk, Sarah's favorite drink into the backseat. "Well, good morning, sunshine," he grinned at her. To Sam, "Want breakfast?"

Sam looked back over his shoulder at his brother when Dean was tossing a packaged cinnamon roll at Sarah who caught it this time. "No thanks," he said when Dean showed him what else he had bought.

Dean set the bag on his seat and walked around the Impala to finish up with the gas pumping.

"So how did you pay for that stuff? You and Dad still running credit card scams?" Sam called over to Dean.

Dean took out the pump and placed it back where it belonged. "Yeah well, hunting's not exactly a pro ball career. Besides, all we do is apply it's not our fault they send us a card."

"Yeah and what name did you write on the application this time?" he smirked sliding fully into his seat and shut his door. Sarah was disappointed to be booted to the backseat when Sam joined them. Sam assured her through that it was just for the weekend and once they found John, Sarah could have it back.

Dean told his brother the names as he went around and got in on his side, shutting his door. Sam was still looking through the cassette tapes. "I swear, man you have got to update your cassette tape collection."

"Why?" Dean asked.

"Well, for one, they are cassette tapes," he began. "And two…" Sam picked up a few as he listed off some of the bands in Dean's collection. "Black Sabbath? Motorhead? Metallica?" Dean took that one from him. "It's the greatest hits of mullet rock."

Dean took the tape from its case and placed it into the car radio, "House rules, Sammy. Driver chooses the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole" and tossed the case back into the box. "Besides," he grinned as he started the car and the rock music began to play, "majority always wins."

Sam stared at his brother, "Majority? How? Dad's not here to agree."

Sarah leaned over the front seat, clearing her throat.

He looked over his shoulder at her. "You too?"

She nodded, grinning at him.

Sam sat forward, shaking his head, "She is defiantly yours, Dean."

Dean held his right hand up for Sarah to grab, proudly as he drove from the station.

Sam set the box of cassette tapes on the floor, at his feet. "So, what was it you wanted to tell me, Sarah?"

"Uh…" Sarah quickly sat back on the seat and picked up her chocolate milk. "…Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Uh, yeah. Positive, Uncle Sammy," she said.

He placed his left elbow on the back of the seat, "You both know that Sammy is a chubby twelve-year-old, right? It's Sam." Sam looked back at his niece. "Okay, Sarah?"

Dean winked at his daughter in the rear-view mirror and turned the music up. "What, Sammy? I can't hear ya. The music's too loud!" he told Sam over it, making Sarah laugh.

The Winchesters came upon the town of Jericho as Sam was checking for their father in the morgue or hospital on his phone. When he hung up, they came upon a roadblock up ahead on a bridge over a river. Dean pulled over to the side and opened the glove box, taking out another fake badge.

"Dad, wait," said Sarah when he was about to step out of the Impala.

Dean looked back into the backseat. "What?" he asked.

"What's gonna be the excuse this time why I'm with you?"

"Right, um." Dean thought it over.

"Sarah, why don't you wait in the car?" Sam suggested. "Your dad and I can handle this ourselves."

Dean was about to answer when Sarah did it for him. "Dad says I can't leave his side."

Sam looked over at Dean who said, "I'll explain later. Let's go, you two. Sarah, you're just very short for your age. Okay?"

Sarah got out, pushing the door shut with both hands. "You don't have to rub it in, Dad. I got enough short jokes from school," she told him.

Dean sighed, "No, I mean that's your alibi. You're our age but with a height challenge."

"Oh, got it, Dad."

Sam rolled his eyes as the three of them walked up to the scene. He still didn't think it was right that Sarah was a part of this. There were several police cars and a small blue, two-door car around the bridge.

"Can I help you, gentlemen?" one of the policemen asked, not seeing Sarah since she was behind Sam and Dean.

Dean showed them his fake badge, "Federal marshals."

"You're a little young for marshals, aren't ya?"

He gave a short chuckle. "Thanks, that's awfully kind of you."

"I'm just really short," Sarah blurted out which Dean gently nudged her in the leg with his foot to hush and walked over to the blue car.

"You had another one just like this, correct?"

The officer nodded, "That's right, about mile up the road and others before that."

"So this victim," said Sam, "You knew him."

"Town like this, everyone knows everybody."

Dean was circling around the car now. "Any connection between any of the victims besides that they're all men?"

"No, not so far as we can tell," the officer replied.

Sam went around the other way around the car. "So what's the theory?"

"Honestly, we don't know. Serial murder. Kidnapping."

"Well, that's exactly the kind of crack police work I expect out of you guys," Dean told the officer, earning his foot stepped on by Sam who thanked them for their time. The boys, followed by Sarah headed back to the Impala.

When they were far away enough where no one was looking, Dean smacked Sam on the back on his head.

"Ow, what was that for?" Sam demanded of his older brother.

"Why did ya have to step on my foot?" he replied.

"Why do you have to talk to the police like that?"

Dean turned on his heel, facing Sam. "Come on, they don't really know what's going on. We're all alone on this. I mean, if we're gonna find Dad we're gonna have to get to the bottom of this, ourselves."

Sam cleared his throat to show more officers were standing behind Dean.

"Can I help you, boys?"

"No, sir, we were just leaving," Dean told him. "Agent Molder, Agent Scully," addressing each guy as two of them walked past the Winchesters.

The Winchesters then headed into town, searching for the victim's girlfriend to get some more answers where they learn of a local legend about a girl who was murdered out on Centennial. So, they decided to head over to the local library to do some research on that.

Dean sat in front the computer, typing into the search box. No results came up. Sam decided to shove his brother out of the way and tried _suicide_, getting one result. He clicked on the article and read it out loud.

"1981, Constance Welch twenty-four-years-old, jumps off Civainia Bridge, drowns in the river."

"Did she say why she did it?" asked Dean.

"Yeah, an hour before they find her, she calls 911. Her two little kids are in the bathtub, she leaves them alone for a minute and when she comes back, they aren't breathing. Both die."

Sarah stood to Sam's right with her arms folded on the table and her chin inside them. She lifted her head to say, "That's what happened to Jake's little brother. His dad was supposed to be watching them when their mom was out and their dad fell asleep."

"Who's Jake, your boyfriend?" Dean teased her.

"Ew, no!" she replied. "He's a pain in the ass from my class who picks on me all the time."

"Sarah, keep your voice down," Sam told her. "And watch your language, too."

"As long as it's not bitch or fuck, I'm okay with her cussing. And if I catch wind of you saying any of those two words, I will put you across my knee. Do you understand me, Sarah Lynn?" Dean warned his daughter.

Sarah nodded, slowly, "Yes, Dad."

"Anyway," Sam interrupted the father and daughter and continued reading. "Our babies were gone and Constance couldn't bear it, said husband Joseph Welch."

"Hey, that looks like the bridge we were on before with all the policemen," Sarah pointed at the screen.

"Good perception, Sarah," Dean praised, holding his right hand over Sam for a high-five from her.

Sarah returned it, smiling.

That night, the Winchesters returned to the bridge to investigate where Constance took the swan dive as Dean put it.

"So, do you think Dad would have been here?" Sam asked.

"Well, he's chasing the same story and we're chasing him," Dean replied and walked away. Sarah was climbing on the railing, trying to look over. Dean gave her a playful swat as he walked by while her bottom was sticking in the air. "Sarah, get down before you take a swan dive yourself."

She immediately jumped down, covering her bottom with both hands. "I wasn't gonna fall, Dad," glaring at him.

"Well, I'm not jumping in after ya if you do," he told her over his shoulder.

"Okay, so now what?" asked Sam.

"We keep digging until we find him," Dean told him, "might take a while."

Sam stopped following his brother. "Dean, I told you, I have to get back by…" They both said Monday as Dean turned around.

"Right, I forgot."

Sarah was a foot in front of her uncle. "You didn't forget, Dad. You were just saying this morning that you wish Uncle Sam would forget about college and join us on the road like before."

"Shut it, Sarah," Dean told his daughter, annoyed.

She glared at him again.

He ignored it. "You're really gonna go through with this, Sam? Become some lawyer, marry your girl?" he asked.

Sam shrugged, "Why not?"

"Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you done?"

Sam stepped towards his brother, around Sarah, "No and she's not ever going to know."

"Well, that's healthy."

"Yeah Uncle Sam, a marriage is supposed to be an open book," Sarah added. "Two people becoming as one who will love each other until the day they die. You can't just keep secrets from Jessica, because it isn't fair to her. What if she told you everything about her past?"

Sam stared at her and then looked back at his brother, amazed.

"I know, it's been like this since we met," said Dean. "But anyway, you can pretend all you want, Sammy, sooner or later you're gonna have to face up to who you're really are." He continued walking again.

Sam followed, too.

Sarah ran faster, past her uncle to walk beside her father.

"Yeah, and who is that?" Sam asked.

"One of us," said Dean.

Sam hurried to walk in front of them. "No, I'm not like you. This is not going to be my life."

"You have a responsibility."

"To Dad…and his crusade? If it weren't for pictures, I wouldn't even know what Mom looks like. What different would it make? Even if we do find that thing that killed her, Mom's gone and she isn't coming back."

Dean grabbed a hold of the front of Sam's jacket and shoved him against the side of the bridge, opposite to where they were looking over the edge before. He stared at him for a moment before he said, "Don't talk about her like that."

"Uh, Dad, I think we have company." Sarah stared at the other side of the bridge. Dean let go of his brother to look at his daughter and followed where she was staring at. A young woman was standing on the railing wearing nothing but a white dress.

She let go and fell into the river below. The Winchesters sprinted over to her perch and looked down below. The woman was nowhere to be seen. Then suddenly, the Impala started on its own even though Dean had the keys and chased the three of them. When it sped up, the three of them hopped the railing. Sam and Dean went over, but Sarah clung to the other side for dear life. The Impala stopped in its tracks.

Sam climbed back up, with difficulty. When he reached the railing, he wrapped his left arm around the top of it and touched his niece's back, gently as not to scare her. "Hey, you all right, Sarah?"

Sarah nodded with her eyes shut tight and still gripping the railing. Sam looked down below and yelled out for Dean who was crawling out of the river and onto the muddy bank like some prehistoric creature coming onto land for the first time.

"What?" he yelled annoyed.

"Hey, are you all right?" Sam called down to him.

Dean rolled onto his back, covered in mud and gave the okay sign. "I'm super."

Sam laughed, relieved and climbed over the railing before he lifted his niece over, who was shaking up a storm. Instead of putting her down on her feet, Sam held her in his arms even as Dean came walking up. When Sarah saw and smelled her father, she decided to stay in her uncle's arms.

"Well, whatever she did to it, it seems okay now," Dean stated after checking the Impala over. "That Constance chick…WHAT A BITCH!"

"Well she doesn't want us digging around, that's for sure," Sam said as Sarah held her head on his left shoulder. "Where does the trail go now?"

Dean threw up his hands, dropping them on his thighs.

Sarah looked over at her father, lifting her head. "Dad, you smell like my fish tank when Mom and I came home from visiting my great aunt and uncle."

"I was gonna say a toilet," Sam said.

Dean looked down at himself. He defiantly needed a shower.


	8. Chapter 8

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 8

The Winchesters checked into a motel so Dean could get cleaned up and found out John had also rented out a room for the month. So, the men decided to check it out. Only, the room was deserted, left in the state John left it. The walls were lined with several news clippings and articles of supernatural things. One wall, Sam found was on Constance Welch, the same article they had found. John had figured out that Constance was a Woman in White.

Dean told Sam and Sarah to look for an address while he took a shower and got cleaned up.

Sam stopped him. "Hey Dean, what I said earlier about Mom and Dad…I'm sorry."

Dean held up his hand at his brother and said, "No chick flick moments."

Sam looked away, smiling. "All right…jerk."

"Bitch." Dean walked away, confusing Sarah. Normally when two people were apologizing to each other, they normally didn't call each other names. In fact, when Sarah's mother and grandparents taught her to apologize, she had to say one nice thing about the other person. That was when she remembered; Sarah never said a nice thing about her uncle when she apologized for punching him.

"Uncle Sam, remember when I hit you?" she asked her uncle.

Sam looked down at her. "Yeah, what about it?"

"I apologized but I didn't say something nice about you."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"My mom says when I apologize, to say one thing that's nice to the person I'm apologizing to and I didn't. I would have been grounded if Mom were here," Sarah explained.

Sam gave a small laugh as he kneeled to her level. "Okay, so what's something nice about me?"

Sarah thought it over, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked up at the ceiling. Finally, she shrugged, "you're really funny."

"Oh, I'm funny, huh?" Sam stood up and scooped his niece up in his arms, taking her over to the bed where he dropped her. Without pause, he then held her down and started tickling Sarah all over who laughed out loud, rolling around where she laid. "I'll show you funny," he laughed, too.

"Uncle Sam, that tickles!" She giggled, rolling around. Her stomach got exposed and Sam tickled that, too. "No more, Uncle Sam!"

He stopped, standing up straight. "Okay, I guess," he smiled at her.

Sarah sat up and smiled up at her uncle when something caught her eye. "Hey, what's that?" she pointed over at a small picture attached to a mirror, on the wall.

Sam looked over where she was pointing and had to squint to see where she was pointing to. He walked over and saw it was a picture of his father holding him as a little boy with Dean sitting next to them. It made Sam smile. Sarah walked over to Sam and asked if she could see it, too. He squatted down and wrapped his left arm around her waist. "This was us a long time ago when your dad and I were kids."

Sarah pointed to her father, "Is that my dad?"

Sam nodded, "Mm hm."

"He almost looks like me."

It dawned on Sam as he continued to look at the picture. Sarah did look like her father when he was around her age. Well, except Sarah's hair was longer, of course but not by much. It wasn't as long as a little girl's usually was but wasn't short either like a boy's. The color also matched Sam's hair now. The resemblance between her and Dean was very close though.

Sam handed the picture to Sarah and stood up so he could start searching for an address to find where Constance's husband lived or could be reached.

Sarah continued to stare at it, "Is that my other papa?" she asked her uncle.

Sam scanned the clippings on the wall until he looked at her, confused. "Huh?"

"My other papa? That's what I call my mom's dad," she explained.

"Yeah, that's our dad," he said. Sam thought it over in his head. _Papa John, huh? _He couldn't help but snicker about it. Sounds like his father should have been making pizzas instead of hunting. Of course, Sam would take that over hunting any day. "Uh, why don't you call our dad, Grandpa?"

Sarah looked up from the picture. "How come?"

"Well," he replied, "It might get confusing calling two guys, papa. Wouldn't it?"

Sarah shrugged, "I guess."

Sam returned to the clippings while Sarah continued looking. After a moment, she asked, "Grandpa's gonna like me. Right?"

"Sure he would. I read once, in his journal that he wished he could have had a daughter," Sam shrugged, his eyes still looking.

Sarah looked at John. She saw him once in a dream. It was dark until fire lit up the room like her dream now, only it was the woman from Sam's picture back in his dorm. John was also the one that was starting to annoy the man in her other dream. Could it be that John was doing something or trying to do something that the man didn't want him to do?

Dean broke her thoughts, coming out of the bathroom. "Hey man, I'm starving. I'm gonna grab something to eat at that diner down the street. You want anything?"

Sarah subconsciously shoved the picture into her jeans pocket and hurried after her father, who was putting his jacket on. "I'm starving, too!"

Sam declined the offer. Dean and Sarah left the motel room where the officers from the day before were outside talking to the motel manager. Dean whispered to Sarah to go back inside and tell her uncle to take off, that the police was there looking for them.

"But, Dad…"

"No buts or I'll spank yours," he warned.

Sarah ran back into the motel room and told her uncle what her father had said. He looked up to see one of the officers walking up to the motel, through the window and sprinted for the bathroom window where he helped Sarah up first. There was a dumpster right underneath the window, outside. Sarah hung from the window. She swallowed, afraid before she let go, landing on top of the lid and moved so her uncle could climb out.

Sam leaped from the dumpster and lifted Sarah down, onto the ground. "Come on, Sarah," he said as they took off at a run.

"What about my dad?" she asked, worried about Dean.

"Don't worry about him, he'll be fine," he assured her.

They ran until the coast was clear and waited until the police was gone before they returned. Sam had grabbed Dean's keys before they got out of there so Sam and Sarah hopped in the Impala and took off for Joseph Welch's place.

"Uncle Sam," Sarah spoke up when he was driving. "Did Dad go to jail?"

"Probably but he always manages to slip through the police's fingers, he will be fine," Sam told her. At that moment, there was a growling sound and a very loud one at that. "What was that?"

"Uh, that's my stomach," she admitted.

Sam glanced at his niece, surprised. "Your stomach?"

"I wasn't lying when I said I was starving."

"Guess not," he shrugged, paying attention to the road. "Here, we'll stop at that this Wendy's and get you a burger. How's that?"

"Wendy's? I love their bacon cheeseburger!" Sarah said, excitedly.

Sam pulled into the parking lot and went through the drive-thru. He order a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger meal for Sarah and just a drink for himself, splitting Sarah's French fries between each other. They ate on the way to Joseph Welch's place. Once the two of them had the information they needed from Joseph Welch, they left.

As they drove down the highway, Sarah was thinking about her dream again and whether or not she should tell her uncle or not. She stared out the window as it replayed in her mind and remembered what she had told her uncle about keeping secrets. "Uncle Sam, about my dream," she finally said, slowly looking over at him.

"What dream?" he asked, concentrating on the road. All the chaos that had been going on and trying to find John, Sam forgot all about it.

"The nightmare I woke up from at the gas station."

"What about it?"

"It's…it's about Jessica," she finally admitted.

Sam glanced at his niece. "Jessica? My girlfriend?"

She nodded.

"What about her?" he asked again.

"I think…I think she's in trouble, Uncle Sam."

He was shifting between her and the road. "What kind of trouble?"

Sarah hesitated, looking at the floor of the Impala.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it was just a bad dream," he shrugged.

"I had other dreams that…came true, too."

"What are you saying, Sarah?" Sam didn't like where the conversation was going.

She looked up at her uncle again, slowly. "I dreamed she died in a fire and you couldn't do anything to stop it."

That made Sam slam on the brakes and the car came to a screeching halt. He turned in his seat and stared at his niece for a long time.

"I don't mean to have the dream, Uncle Sam, I just do," Sarah tried to tell him.

Finally, Sam spoke, "She wasn't pinned to the ceiling, was she?"

Sarah nodded, slowly, looking at him.

There was a long, awkward, silent pause before he asked, "Sarah…how did your mom die?"

Sarah was taken by surprise at that question. She didn't know how that was relevant to this situation. "She died almost two months ago from a brain tumor. Why?"

Sam blew a sigh of relief. "So, there wasn't a house fire at your house, then?" he asked.

"When I was a baby, my aunt died in a fire," she replied. "Same way Jessica did in my dream."

That got Sam's attention again. "These dreams, did they start about a few months ago?"

Sarah nodded, "Why?"

"Because that's when my dreams started," he told her.

"Your dreams?" she asked.

"I've been having strange dreams, too and one of them was of Jessica dying," Sam explained.

Sarah's eyes grew larger. "Have you seen the man, too?"

"What man?"

"Man who talks to me in my dreams. He's kind of tall, short hair, almost bald. Sometimes he has yellow eyes. He says he has plans for you and me, but mostly you," she explained to her uncle.

Sam shook his head, "No, I haven't seen any man."

Their conversation was abruptly cut short when Sam and Sarah caught sight of the woman from the night before, standing in front of the Impala, staring at them.

"Oh shit," Sarah blurted out as they stared at Constance.

Suddenly, Constance appeared in the backseat. "Take me home," she told Sam.

Sam then glared at her. "No."

Sarah quickly pulled a shotgun out from under the seat and shot at the ghost, blasting her in the face with rock salt, standing on one leg. Constance disappeared.

Sam looked at Sarah, impressed. "Nice shot."

"Thanks, Dad taught me at Bobby's house," she replied.

The gas petal was slammed down, knocking Sarah back, onto the floor, upside down. The Impala sped down the highway without Sam's control. Sarah struggled to get back up, onto the seat. Soon, it stopped in its tracks in front of a worn down, old house that looked like no one lived in for years.

Constance was in the backseat again. "I can never go home," she told Sam.

Sam looked at her through the rear-view mirror, "You're scared to go home."

At that, she disappeared.

Sam and Sarah looked around but Constance was nowhere to be seen. "Where'd she go?" Sarah asked, gripping the rifle in her hands. The salt-barreled rifle was the only weapon Dean had graduated her from that she could use at the moment.

Out of nowhere, Constance appeared on top of Sam, trying to seduce him.

Sam struggled against her, "You can't kill me. I'm not unfaithful, never been."

Constance said next to his right ear, "You will be. Just hold me."

Sarah held the rifle up. "Eat salt, stupidhead!" and she shot her in the face again and sent her away once more.

Suddenly, Sam started crying out in pain and unzipped his jacket to reveal five bloody wounds in his torso. Right as Sarah was about to raise the shotgun again, she heard her father's voice yell, "SARAH, GET DOWN!" She obeyed without a fight as she heard gunshots and glass breaking from the driver and passenger windows.

When Constance reappeared, Dean shot again.

Sam sat up, quickly and told Sarah to get out, fast. Sarah obeyed a second time. The moment she shut her door, Sam slammed the Impala into drive and drove it straight into the house. She and Dean hurried after on foot to make sure Sam was all right. They stepped over debris and made their way to the passenger side and looked inside.

"Sam, you okay?" Dean asked his brother.

"I think," Sam replied, panting.

"Can you move?"

"Yeah, help me." Dean helped Sam from the car and both men looked up to see Constance standing there, holding a large framed picture of her children.

She glared up at the Winchesters. Suddenly, she threw it away and shoved a dresser against them, which actually did more pain to Sarah considering her size and strength.

When Constance moved towards them, the lights started flicking on and water started pouring down the stairs. At the top of the stairs were two small children, one around Sarah's age, the other younger. Constance walked over to stand at the foot of the stairs, looking up at them.

The children linked hands, "You come home to us, Mommy," they said. They all of a sudden appeared behind Constance and latched onto her. Constance screamed out, metamorphing or whatever until she dissolved on the floor. The room went dead quiet.

Sarah could not believe the sight she just saw. She had seen stuff like that in the movies and on TV but never had she seen something like that, right before her. It felt strange and terrifying. In fact, Sarah couldn't even look away. It was as if she was drawn to the scene. When it was over and Sam and Dean pushed the dresser away, she still stood there, her eyes still on spot where Constance evaporated. That day may have been the day when everything changed for Sarah.

Dean even asked if she was all right. Sarah snapped out of it and nodded at her father, speechless. What put a smile on her face though was when he told Sam, "If you screwed up my car, I'll kill you."

Back on the road, Dean told Sam and Sarah how he found John's journal and showed him the coordinates John had left for Dean to find. Sam looked it up on a map and found out it was coordinates to Blackwater, Colorado. Dean tried once more to get Sam to stay with them but Sam just wouldn't budge. So finally, Dean agreed to take him home.

After fifteen minutes, Sarah broke the silence waking up from a short nap. "Dad."

Dean glanced up at the rear-view mirror, "Yeah, Sarah?"

"Did I do good this time? Was it better than my first hunt?" she asked, sleepily, rubbing her right eye with the palm of her hand.

"Well, you were with Sam half the time but from what I saw, I thought you did great," he told her, smiling proudly.

Sam spoke up for his niece, "You should have seen Sarah when the ghost first appeared in the car. The moment we saw it, she whipped out that shotgun and shot it. In the face, too. Even when it started trying to seduce me, Sarah was ready for it. So this was only her second hunt?" he asked, impressed again.

"Yeah, we were training at Bobby's place when Bobby caught wind of a Skinwalker in Minnesota." Dean then went on to explain the whole thing, including letting Sarah get kidnapped. "That's why I don't let Sarah leave my side," he explained.

Sam shook his head. "I'm telling you, Dean, Sarah is too young for all of this. I mean, this time it was just one ghost that was pretty simple to kill. They're not all going to be that easy."

"I know, Sam and like I said, I hate having to put my kid through it. The moment I put a gun in her hand it seemed like she was meant for this, you know. I put up targets in places that would be impossible for a kid her age to hit and she did. Sarah hung onto every one of my instructions. She did what I told her do. When I gave her an order that pertains to hunting, she does it, no questions asked. She still gives me hard times with other things but hey, she's still a kid."

"Sound familiar?" asked Sam.

Dean looked at his brother, "Huh, how?"

"Dean, that's how you and Dad always been. He gives you an order and you always follow it," he told him.

Dean looked away. "Yeah," he said, silently, rubbing the back of his head.

They reached the dormitory a few hours later and Sam stepped out. Sarah climbed over the front seat so she could sit up front like before. "Uncle Sam," she said when he was saying good-bye.

"Yeah," he replied, leaning on the car door.

"I thought of something even nicer to say about you."

Sam smiled, "What's that?"

"You're my uncle," she smiled at him.

Sam kissed the side of her forehead and walked away. That was when Dean spoke up. "Sam." Sam turned back around. "You know, we made a hell of a team back there."

He nodded, "Yeah." And that was it.

Dean turned forward and the brothers parted ways. Dean got a few blocks away when Sarah suddenly sat up, straight in her seat. "Dad, we have to go back!"

Dean looked at his daughter, confused. "Why?"

"Trust me on this, okay? We have to go back," she told her father. So, Dean turned around and drove back to Sam's dormitory. When he stopped the car, Sarah basically flew out, barely remembering to shut her door.

Dean quickly followed. "Sarah, what the hell is going on?" Dean just thought she forgot to hug Sam good-bye or something. "We'll see Sam again!"

Sarah and Dean ran up the stairs to Sam's door which was already locked. Sarah struggled with the doorknob until Dean shoved her out of the way and picked it with his lock pick, getting shoved back himself before following his daughter inside. That's when they heard Sam yell. Dean pushed past his daughter and flew into the bedroom to find it in flames and Jessica pinned to the ceiling.

Dean grabbed Sam up and struggled to get him outside. Not long after they were outside, the firefighters had arrived.

Sam stood at the trunk of the Impala, assembling and disassembling a gun, not saying a word. Sarah stood beside him, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I'm sorry, Uncle Sam. I should have told you sooner," she was telling him.

"No, Sarah," he replied. "I knew about it, too. I was the boyfriend, I should have done something. It's all my fault, not yours." Dean walked up to the two of them. Sam looked at him. "We got work to do" and shut the trunk in both hands.


	9. Chapter 9

**I was thinking about skipping over the Wendigo episode but then I realized Dean's talk with Sam was important to the the plot. So, I mashed it into one chapter. **

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 9

The Winchesters trudged through the woods of Blackwater, Colorado on yet another hunt. They were hiking with two other siblings who were looking for their brother, and some guy who thought he knew it all when it came to the wilderness and regular game hunting. It seemed there were animal attacks on campers, never to be seen again. The siblings' brother normally checked in every day but hadn't the last couple of days which concerned them. Now, while they looked for their brother, the Winchesters were hiking with them to protect them and hunt whatever it was that were attacking campers while looking for John in the process.

Dean noticed Sarah was bringing up the rear, watching the ground as she walked. He slowed down, eating a bag of peanut M&Ms. "M&Ms for your thoughts?" he smirked, holding the open end of the bag towards her.

Sarah looked up at it, and shook her head. "No thanks, I can't."

"Why not?" he asked, plopping a small handful in his mouth.

"I'm allergic to any kind of nut," she replied. "I can't even eat peanut butter."

"Seriously?"

Sarah nodded.

"Isn't chocolate a nut?" he asked.

She looked at her father like he was a nut. "Chocolate's a bean, Dad."

"Right, anyway, what's wrong?" Dean changed the subject, wanting to know why his little girl was walking so slow and not paying attention like she should be.

Sarah shrugged, "Nothing, just thinking about the last few weeks."

"It's a lot to take in, huh?"

She nodded. "But the thing is I feel better being with you than I ever had with my other family."

"What do you mean?"

"I never fitted in with my mom and grandparents. Mom always criticized me for reading monster lore and folk tales, that's why she agreed to let Papa pay for those psy-collie-gist visits. They all thought I was a freak, Dad, I know it." Tears started forming on the last part. "And I know Mom was scared of me."

"Why would your mom be scared of you and keep your voice down, kid," he told her.

Sarah looked away, her hands in the pocket of her sweatshirt. "I'm different. I know I shouldn't have but I read Mom's journal once. It said that she wanted to have an abortion when I was in her tummy. When I asked Gram what that was she said it's when a mom kills her baby when it's still growing her tummy." Sarah stopped walking and completely faced her father. Dean stopped as well. "Mom didn't want me, Dad!" She couldn't help her voice rise as hot tears fell down both sides of her cheeks. "The journal also said that some guy talked her into keeping me. It took a complete stranger to change her mind."

Everyone else had stopped walking and looked back to see what was going on. Dean told them to keep going and kneeled to his daughter's level. "Hey, look at me," he told her.

Sarah sniffed, looking into her father's face.

"I'm very proud you are my kid. I would be lying if I said that back when you were born but I was pretty much still a kid, myself. Your mom and grandparents, they didn't know what to think about this stuff because they weren't educated on it. They don't know the truth like we do and that's what scared them. That's how most people react when someone is a certain way they can't explain. Your mom saw you read about things most kids are afraid of so she went out and found help on what to do. I'm sure your mom loved you."

"She never wanted to hug me," she sniffed. "I was like poison to her."

"No I'm sure you weren't, she was just scared."

Sarah threw herself onto her father and squeezed his neck, tightly. Dean stood up, holding her in his arms. "It's okay, Sarah." He turned and kept walking, carrying Sarah for a little while so she could compose herself. After fifteen minutes though, he made her walk again. Sarah and Dean brought up the rear of the group.

Soon, the group stopped. "This is it," the travel guide announced, "Blackwater Ridge."

Sam walked a head of him, looking straight ahead. "What coordinates are we at?" he asked.

The guide took out his electronic compass and turned it on, looking up the coordinates. "Thirty-five minus one eleven."

Dean, followed by Sarah walked over to stand beside Sam, looking out at the woods. "You hear that?"

"Yeah…not even crickets," replied Sam.

"I'm gonna go have a look around," the guide said.

"You shouldn't go off by yourself," Sam told him.

He had his arms folded in front of him, "That's sweet. Don't worry about me." The guide then walked in between the small family, continuing on.

Dean walked a few steps and turned around. "All right, everyone stays together. Let's go." And he continued walking, as well. Sarah hurried after him, glued to his side.

The group continued through the woods until they found the siblings' brother's campsite, in ruins as if a bear or wolf had done it. Dean found tracks, off some distance from the site and called Sam over to show him.

"The bodies were dragged from the campsite," he explained to Sam and Sarah. "But here, the tracks just vanish. It's weird." Dean stood up, straight as he looked ahead. "I'll tell ya what. It's no skinwalker or black dog." He turned and walked back to the group.

Sarah asked, "Black dog?" She hurried after him. "Like the movie? The black dog story is real?"

"Yes but not how they tell it," he replied. "I'll tell ya later."

Soon, they heard a male's voice cry out. After checking it out and returning to camp, the group discovered their packs missing. Sam figured it out, right then and there that they were hunting a Wendigo. Since it was getting late and no one would leave, Dean suggested they'd call it a night and set up camp. The guide and the siblings sat by a campfire while Sam sat, a few feet away, staring at the ground.

Sarah wandered over to her uncle, holding her hands pressed into her armpits. "Uncle Sam, mind if I sit with you? The fire's not helping."

Sam looked up. "Sure, kiddo."

Sarah sat down and snuggled up against her uncle. Sam wrapped his left arm around her. "Are you okay, Uncle Sam?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he assured her.

"Doing some thinking, too?"

Sam forced a smile for his niece. "I guess you can say that. What are you thinking about?"

"My mom."

"You miss her, huh?"

"A little but I know she's in a better place with the angels," Sarah said.

"Oh, you believe in angels?" Sam asked.

"Papa and Gram took me to church with them, a lot. I learned a lot in my Sunday school class about how when we accept Jesus, we go to heaven when we die and how angels watch over us."

"That's a load of crap, Sarah." Dean was walking up to the two of them, his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "Angels aren't real and I don't want to hear about them again."

"Angels are real, Dad," Sarah told her father.

"Fine, believe what you like but keep it to yourself." Dean turned his attention to his brother. "You want to tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours, Sam?"

"Dean…" Sam started to say but Dean cut him off.

"No, you're not fine," he said, sitting on Sarah's opposite side. "You're like a powder keg, man. It's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?"

There was a long, silence pause. The only sounds were the crackling of the campfire and crickets chirping away without a care in the world. Finally, Sam said, "Dad's not here. I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would have left us a message. A sign, right. "

Dean was looking up at the night sky. "Yeah, you're probably right. To tell you the truth, I don't think Dad's ever been to Law's Creek."

"Then let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road. Go find Dad." Sam threw a stick he had been holding onto the ground with force, "I mean, why are we even still here?"

Dean made Sarah, who had laid her head against him, sit up, and moved to the rock across from Sam. He took out John's journal and tapped it with his whole hand. "This is why. This book." Dean tapped it with his pointer finger. "This is Dad's single and most valuable possession. Everything he knows about every evil thing is in here and he's passed it onto us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know, saving people, hunting things. The family business."

Sam shook his head, trying to wrap his head around what his brother just told him, "That makes no sense."

Sarah sat up from where she was leaning against her uncle again. "It makes sense to me and I'm a kid."

Dean raised his eye brows. "Kid's got a point. See?"

"But why doesn't he just call us? Why doesn't he tell us what he wants? Tell us where he is?" Sam questioned, quietly. The Winchesters had been keeping their voices to just above a whisper.

"I don't know," Dean admitted. "But the way I see it, Dad's given us a job to do and I intend to do it."

"Dean…" Sam changed his tone. "No. I got to find Dad. I got to find Jessica's killer."

"But didn't you say that even if we find it, it won't change the fact that they're dead and they're not coming back?" Sarah spoke up. "Kind of sound like a hypocrite, Uncle Sam."

"It's the only thing I can think about, and you just wouldn't understand, Sarah."

"You're talking to a kid who can recite words that I don't even know the meanings of, plus name all forty presidents," said Dean.

"It's forty-three, Dad," Sarah corrected him.

"Whatever, the point is, Sam, we will find Dad, I promise. Listen to me, you got to prepare yourself. I mean, this search can take a while. And all that anger, you can't keep it burning over the long haul. It's gonna kill you. You gotta have patience, man."

"How do you do it?" Sam forced a laugh. "How does Dad do it?"

Dean looked over at the siblings, then back at Sam. "Well, for one, them."

Sam and Sarah looked over at the siblings.

"I mean, I figure if our family is so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little more bearable."

"So, we're like the Rescue Rangers," Sarah asked, "only with monsters?"

"No idea who they are but yeah, basically," he replied. "I'll tell ya what else helps, Sammy." Sam faced him again. "Killing as much sons of bitches as I can." Dean smiled at that, making Sam smile, too. He knew just what to say to make his younger brother feel better. Always looking out for Sam.

Suddenly, the same cry for help interrupted the brotherly chat. Everyone jumped to their feet. Dean and the guide had their guns out. "It's trying to draw us out," Dean told them. "Just stay cool, stay put."

"Inside the magic circle?" the guide asked, sarcastically with his rifle pointed up.

"Dad, can I hit him?" Sarah asked, annoyed.

"As much as I would like to say yes and how much the guy needs it, no," Dean replied, his eyes scanning the trees around them.

Rustling and movement was detected. The Wendigo had found them and of course, the guide had to go after it. The Winchesters followed after him but it was too late. He was gone.

Sarah shrugged, "Don't mean to sound mean but uh, he was asking for it. They're usually the first ones to go in the movies."

After Dean explained what a Wendigo was, the group continued the next day without the guide. Soon, they found the guide's body when it was tossed from a tree, almost flattening the girl. Everyone took off running. Sarah kept tripping over tree roots and rocks, falling forward. Sam went back to help his niece up. Because of that, the two of them and the girl's younger brother was separated from her and Dean.

"Dean!" Sam called out.

No answer.

"Sorry, Uncle Sam," said Sarah as she rubbed her arm, up and down, ashamed.

"It's okay, Sarah," he told her. "Come on, you two."

The two of them went looking for Dean and the girl until they came to a boarded up cave with a _Do Not Enter_ sign on it. The boy and Sarah followed Sam inside. Sam led the way down a dark tunnel with only a flashlight to light the way. Sarah gripped his jacket, tightly in her right hand as they walked. When they heard a growl, she hugged his leg.

Sam pushed Sarah and the boy back, along the wall of the tunnel with their backs pressed against it. They watched as a thin shadowly creature walked away from them. Sam had to cover the boy's mouth to keep him from making a sound. Sarah, on the other hand, was speechless. Her little heart was beating fast like it was going to leap out of her chest. She was wishing her father was there, right about now.

When the coast was clear, the three of them continued walking. The boy stepped on a weak piece of wood and they all fell through, into a hole. Bones littered the ground around them, scaring both the boy and Sarah. Sam calmed them both down.

It was Sarah who noticed Dean and the girl hanging by their hands, from the ceiling. She ran over to them. "Daddy!" She tried getting him to wake up, shaking his legs.

Sam came up and helped, too. "Dean," he said. "Dean, you okay?" when Dean was awake.

Dean grunted a few times before he replied, "Yeah."

Sam cut the both of them down and he led Dean over to set him down while the boy did the same for his sister. Sarah tried to help, too but with her small size and Dean's larger, adult body, she wasn't really much use. Sam carried most of his brother's weight while Dean did what he could. When the siblings noticed their long lost brother was also there, Sam hurried over with them while Sarah stayed back with her father, hugging his neck.

"Okay, okay, Sarah," he told her, pushing Sarah off. "We need to stay focused here, okay?"

She nodded.

Dean curiously looked inside one of the packs that were sitting near the two of them and found flare guns, calling Sam's attention. He handed one to Sarah. "These are flare guns and you only get one shot so make it count or that's it. Got it?"

Sarah nodded, "Yes, Dad."

Continuing on, with the siblings carrying their brother, the Winchesters kept them covered with the flare guns raised. Dean told the siblings to stay with Sam and Sarah that they would get them out. Sarah insisted on going with Dean.

"You said I never leave your side."

"You'll be with Sam, it's okay," he told her.

"No, I want to go with you and help you."

"You want to help, then stay with Sam, understand?"

"No!"

"Sarah Lynn Winchester, I don't have time for this! Stay with Sam!" Dean exclaimed and ran ahead, turning a corner. Sarah ran after him. Sam tried calling her back but she continued. She lost him once because of the Wendigo, she wasn't about to let it happen again.

When Dean heard her footsteps running after him, he was pissed. They moved through the cave, trying to find it. When they did, the Wendigo was closing in on Sam and the siblings. Dean shot at it, burning it to a corpse. Everyone was relieved. Dean did not stop to breathe, though. Tossing the flare gun to the side, he turned on Sarah and landed a hard swat to her backside with his right hand before he kneeled to her level. "What did I say about following orders during a hunt?" he demanded of his daughter.

Sarah had immediately grabbed her backside, crying out in pain.

"Answer me, Sarah Lynn," he told her, sternly.

Sarah continued to cry, not answering her father.

"Do you want another one?"

She quickly shook her head.

"Then I suggest you answer me."

Sarah sniffed, wiping her face with her arm. "To…obey e-every or-der y-y-you give," she finally answered.

"Then tell me why you disobeyed me?" he asked.

She sniffed, wiping her nose on her arm but didn't answer.

"I'm waiting, Sarah."

"I was scared of losing you again, I wanted to help you."

Dean dropped his head, running his hand along his hair, and then looked up at her. "Sarah, when I give you an order, you have to follow it. It's only for your own good. I'm already a bad father for putting you in this, but that won't mean I won't do everything in my power to protect you and that means you got to do as I say. No ifs, ands, or buts. Understand?"

Sarah nodded, slowly.

Dean took his daughter into his arms and hugged her. "I'm sorry I spanked you so hard. It's just, if anything would to happen to you, like I said, I don't know what I would do. I love you, Sarah."

Sarah hugged him in return. "I'm sorry, Dad."

He kissed the side of her head. "It's okay. You were worried about me. But don't be. I've been doing this most of my life. I'm tough, nothing can kill me."

At the forest lodge, the Winchesters said good-bye to the siblings and Dean even got a kiss from the girl before she got inside the back of the ambulance. The brothers leaned against the front of the Impala, Sarah already passed out in the backseat, snoozing away.

"Man, I hate camping," Dean broke the silence.

"Me, too," agreed Sam as they stared ahead.

"Sam, you know we're gonna find Dad, right?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, I know. But in the meantime…" He looked at Dean. "I'm driving."

Dean tossed the keys up into the air and Sam caught them before they got into the Impala and drove off.


	10. Chapter 10

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 10

Dean sat at the bar at a diner, looking at a newspaper of recent deaths. Sarah sat next to him, finishing a plate of scrambled eggs and toast. His eyes moved straight up when a young, beautiful waitress stopped in front of him on the other side of the bar.

"Can I get you anything else?" she asked him.

Dean smiled with his pen he was using in his mouth.

Sam walked up, "Just the check."

The waitress nodded and walked away.

Dean turned to his brother. "You know, Sam we are allowed to have fun once in a while." He pointed to the waitress turning the corner in the kitchen. "That's fun."

Sarah looked over where the waitress had disappeared. "How is a waitress fun?" she asked.

He looked back over his shoulder, "I'll explain when you're older and dating. Anyway, I think I found another one." Dean showed Sam a news article he circled in blue ink. Sarah sat up, onto her legs as she leaned on the bar to get a look herself. "Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week, Sophie Carlson, eighteen. Walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water…nothing. Sophie Carlson is the third drowning this year. None of the other bodies were found either. Had a funeral, two days ago."

"Funeral?" Sam questioned, looking at the article.

"Yeah, it's weird, they buried an empty coffin. For closure or whatever."

"Are we gonna check it out?" Sarah asked.

"You bet we are," Dean told her, looking at the newspaper again before he looked over at his daughter and placed his right elbow on the bar. He held his pen towards her, "What are you going to remember while we're on this hunt?"

Sarah moaned. "Dad, I told you a hundred times, already."

"I don't care, I want to make sure you understand what is expected of you. Now tell me again."

Sarah dropped her forehead against his upper arm. "Obey every order you give me no matter what it is," she recited in an irritated tone.

Dean leaned over and kissed the top of her head. "Thank you."

"Dean," Sam interrupted his brother and niece. "The trail on Dad is getting colder and colder, why stop for another hunt?"

"Look Sam, you know I want to find Dad, too but until then I plan on killing anything bad between here and then. Okay?"

At that moment, the waitress walked behind them. Dean stared at her as she walked away. Sarah watched him. "Dad, it's impolite to stare."

Dean slid around on his stool to face his daughter and gave her a hard stare until he grinned and winked at her. "And I will explain that when you're older of why it's okay for a guy to stare at a girl." He took his wallet out and dropped a twenty on the bar. "Let's go, nerds."

Sarah jumped down from her stool and followed her father out of the diner. Sam rolled his eyes as he followed along, as well.

On the road, Sarah had fallen asleep since there was nothing to do and her PSP was dead. Visions of people drowning filled her mind, including a young boy around her age. She twitched in her sleep and shifted multiple times until Sam reached back and shook her. Sarah shot up, awake. She looked around.

Dean looked in the rear-view mirror as Sam asked, "You okay, Sarah?"

Sarah rubbed at her right eye with the palm of her hand and nodded.

Sam showed her a thick workbook he bought when they stopped at a store. "Hey, I bought this for you. I figured I would homeschool you in between hunts since you won't be going to school." He looked over at Dean when Sam said the last part. "You're in second grade, right?"

Sarah shook her head. "Third. I got bumped up a grade because I was too far ahead than the rest of my class. They wanted to put me in fourth grade but my mom wanted me to be with kids more closer to my age."

Sam took the book back. "Well, I think this is useless. What's the highest math you can do, by yourself?"

"I can already multiply single numbers. Two times two is four…uh, four times six is twenty-four…nine times seven is sixty-three."

"Uh…wow and how is she your kid, Dean?" Sam asked of his brother, giving him a hard time.

Dean gave him a cold glare. "For your information, her mother went to Stanford before dropping out to raise her. Plus, she is also related to you."

Sam was skimming through the workbook, trying to find the hardest page. He looked up when the first part sunk in. "Wait…Sarah's mom went to Stanford?" he asked.

"According to Sarah's grandfather. She went for a few years, then we met when you, me, and Dad were on that werewolf hunt in California. When she found out she was pregnant, she quit school."

"How did Sarah's mom find you after all these years?"

"She didn't. Sarah's mom passed away, remember?" Dean reminded him. He glanced up into the rear-view mirror. "Sorry, Sarah."

"It's okay, Dad," she replied.

"So how did you find Sarah, then?" Sam asked.

"Sarah's grandparents were looking for me. They got ahold of Dad somehow and he texted me coordinates to where they lived," explained Dean.

"He texted you? The man could barely turn on a computer and he texted you?"

"I know, surprised me, too," he shrugged.

"So, Dad knows about Sarah already?"

Dean shrugged again, "Guess so."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing, he just told me to do the right thing. Never heard from him since which is why we came and got you."

Sam shook his head, returning to the workbook. He wished he knew why his father wasn't telling them anything or why he hasn't called. He stopped on a _words with two meanings_ workpage and turned in his seat. "Sarah, come here."

Sarah scooted to the middle of the backseat, onto the edge.

Sam showed her the page. "I want you to do this page for me. Okay. You know what double meanings are, right?"

She nodded at her uncle.

"Like the example shows," he reviewed it to her, anyway. "Bark can mean the skin of a tree or the sound a dog makes. Make two sentences for each word using each meaning. Understand?"

Sarah took the workbook from him. "Yes, Uncle Sam," she said, rolling her eyes.

Dean passed back his pen he had been using back at the diner. "Here, you can use this." Sarah reached up for it but her father moved it higher, out of her reach. "Oh, too slow." She kept trying. "You have to be faster than that," he grinned, switching between the road and his daughter out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, too slow."

Sarah playfully glared at her father. "Dad, can I please have it?"

Dean smirked, "Okay. I guess since you said please, you can have it."

"Thank you." Sarah went to take it when he did it one last time. "Daaaad."

"I'm just teasing you. Here." He finally let his daughter take the pen from him so she could work on the worksheet Sam assigned. When she was done with it, Sam checked it over and assigned another page. This time Sarah had to write the word that the picture shown.

When Sam checked that page over, an eyebrow was raised. "Ah, Sarah, you got number four wrong," he told her.

"No I didn't," she argued. "I got them all right, I know I did."

He showed her the page, pointing at the fourth picture with the pen. "Sarah, the arrow is not pointing at his…um…" Sam paused, not wanting to say the word to his seven-year-old niece.

"Yes, it's pointing at his lap."

That got Dean's attention. "What the hell are you two talking about?" He asked, grabbing the workbook from his brother's hands and looked at the picture, himself. "Seriously?" He saw the picture of a man sitting and an arrow pointing in the general area of his lap. "What is that supposed to be?"

"I think it supposed to represent sit," Sam shrugged.

Dean tossed it back at his brother. "I'd say just let her have that one because that's basically what it is implying."

"Dean, the answer is not…that word."

Dean continued driving until they finally arrived in Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin, stopping at the Carlson cabin first. Dean knocked.

"What am I today?" Sarah asked.

"Again Sarah, we are keeping the short lie. Okay? You are twenty-five and very short so quit…" A young man answered the door. "…Hello, are you Will Carlson?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"I am Agent Ford, these are Agents Hammel and Olson." Dean showed him a badge. "We're with the U.S. Wildlife Service."

The young man, Will looked down at Sarah then back at Dean. "Isn't she a little young to be an agent?" he asked.

"She has a condition that makes her look like she's a kid but she's an adult, trust me."

The men and Sarah walked towards the lake and stopped a few yards away. Will turned to look at them, his hands hanging out of his pocket. "She was about a hundred yards out," he nodded towards it before looking at the Winchesters. "It's where she got dragged out."

"Are you sure she didn't just drown?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." Will looked back at the lake. "She was a varsity swimmer. She practically grew up in that lake. She's as safe out there as she is in her own bathtub."

Sam spoke next. "So, no splashing? No signs of distress?"

"No, it's what I'm telling you," he said.

"Did you see any shadows in the water? Maybe some dark shape breech the surface?"

"No, again she was really far out there."

"Did you see any strange tracks by the shoreline?" asked Dean.

"No, never. Why? What do you think is out there?"

Dean took in a deep breath. "We'll let you know as soon we do." He walked away. Sarah, of course followed after him. He stopped when Sam asked, "What about your father, can we talk to him?" making Sarah run into him. Dean looked back.

Will looked back, over his right shoulder where his father was sitting on the lake dock. "Look, if you don't mind, I mean he didn't see anything and he's kind of been through a lot."

Sam nodded, "We understand." He turned and headed for the Impala.

At the police station, they spoke to the town's sheriff. "Now, I'm sorry but why does the wildlife service care about an accidental drowning?" the sheriff was asking the Winchesters as he let them inside the small wooden gate.

Sam walked through it. "Are you sure it's accidental? Will Carlson saw something grab his sister."

"Like what?" he asked with some irritation present in his voice as they made their way back to his office. "Gentlemen, ma'am, sit." The sheriff offered two seats. Sam and Dean took them while Sarah stood in between. "There is no indigenous carnivore in that lake. There's not even anything big enough to pull down a person unless it was the Loch Ness Monster."

"Actually, the Loch Ness Monster is in Scotland," Sarah pointed out.

Dean pulled her towards him and whispered, "That was sarcasm."

"Look, Will Carlson was traumatized and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still, we dragged that entire lake, we even did a sonar sweep just to be sure and there was nothing down there," the sheriff continued.

Dean leaned forward. "That's weird though. I mean, that's…that's the third missing body, this year."

"I know. These are people from my town. These are people I care about."

He nodded, "I know."

The sheriff threw up his hands, leaning back in his chair. "Anyway, all this…it won't be a problem much longer."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the dam, of course," he said.

Dean sat back in his own chair. "Of course, the dam." He and Sam exchanged looks between each other before turning back to the sheriff. "It's uh, it sprung a leak."

"It's falling apart."

Dean nodded.

"And the Feds aren't giving us the funds to repair it, so they opened the spillway." The sheriff leaned on his desk. "In another six months, there won't be much of a lake. Won't be much of a town, either. But as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that."

"Exactly," replied Dean before there was a knock on the window.

A young woman walked in. "Sorry, am I interrupting?" she asked, embarrassed. Sam and Dean stood up, slowly, looking at her. "I can come back later." She turned to leave.

The sheriff stood up, as well. "Gentlemen, ma'am, this is my daughter."

Dean walked over to her and held his hand out. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Dean."

She returned the handshake as she smiled. "Andrea Barr."

He smiled at her, too. "Hey."

"They're from the wildlife service," the sheriff explained to his daughter. "About the lake."

"Oh," was all she said just as a little boy around Sarah's age peeked from around her.

"Oh, hi there," Dean greeted him.

The boy moved beside Andrea.

"What's your name?"

He just stared at the ground, catching a glimpse of Sarah waving to him, in a friendly-like matter. The boy turned and walked away. Sarah suddenly remembered him as the boy from her dream she had during her catnap. She watched as the boy left the office. Andrea followed after him.

"His name is Lucas," the sheriff answered when they were gone.

Sam turned around to face him. "Is he okay?"

"My grandson's been through a lot…we all have." He turned and headed towards the door. "Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know."

Dean thanked him as he walked out of the office. He stopped and turned around. "Now that you mention it, can you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?"

"Lakefront Motel. Go around the corner, it's two blocks out," Andrea told him.

Dean pointed back, behind him, "two," thinking out loud. He turned to Andrea and asked, "Would you mind showing us?"

She laughed, "You want me to walk you two blocks?"

"Not if it's any trouble," he told her as Sam rolled his eyes, knowing what his older brother was up to.

"I'm headed that way, anyway." Andrea turned towards her father. "I'll be back to pick up Lucas at three."

The sheriff smiled, nodding.

Andrea bent over to tell her son, "We'll go to the park, okay, sweetie?" and kissed his head before standing up.

Sam thanked the sheriff, as well as the four of them left the station. As they walked to Lakefront Motel, Dean tried to do a little flirting with Andrea. "Cute kid."

Andrea smiled, "Thanks."

They crossed the street, speed-walking.

"Kids are the best, huh?" he told her.

They finished crossing, stopping in front of the motel. Andrea turned to face Dean. "There it is. Like I said, two blocks."

"Thanks," said Sam.

She sighed at Dean, "It must be hard with your sense of direction. Never being able to find your way to a descent pick-up line?" With that said, Andrea walked away. "Enjoy your stay."

"Kids are the best?" Sam questioned his brother with his hands on his sides. "You don't even like kids, which is why I was surprised you took Sarah in."

"I love kids," Dean tried to argue.

"Name three children that you even know." Dean was about to answer when Sam added, "besides Sarah."

Dean thought about it, not thinking of any. Sam just waved him off and walked away, towards the motel. Dean scratched his head and followed after his brother. "I'm thinking."

**Just a quick note: The reference when Sam is checking over Sarah's homework is from a photo that Ellen Degeneres posted on Facebook of a student's schoolwork. Other than that, hope you liked it!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 11

Sarah sat on one of the beds in the motel room as Dean was sorting through his clothes. She got a whiff of one of his shirts as it soared through the air and landed on the floor. "Dad, do you ever wash your clothes?" she asked, covering her nose.

"Hunting's not exactly a clean job, Sar," he told her. "Find anything, Sam?"

Sam was on his laptop, researching the drownings that happened over the years. "Well, there's the three drownings, this year," Sam replied.

"And before that?"

Ah, yeah, six more. All spread out over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace."

"So what, we have a lake monster on a binge?" said Dean.

"This whole lake monster theory…it just bugs me."

Sarah got up, onto her legs, sitting back on her heels, "I read about a lot of things but I never read anything about a lake monster."

"I ain't never seen one, either," Dean told her.

"People say they seen them but who knows," Sam shrugged. "But here, though there's been nothing at all. Whatever is out there, no one is living to talk about it."

Dean walked over to stand over his brother's shoulder. He read what was on the computer screen and saw a name that sounded familiar to him. "Barr, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?"

Sarah crawled off the bed and wandered up to the men. "The sheriff's daughter was named Barr."

Sam brought up another webpage of a news article with a picture of the boy, Lucas. "Barr, the victim in May. Oh, Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband, Lucas' father." Dean stood up straight. "Apparently, he took Lucas out swimming, Lucas was on a floating, wooden platform when Chris drowned, two hours before the kid got rescued." Sam scratched the back of his head, "Maybe we have an eye witness, after all."

"No wonder that kid was so freaked out," said Dean. "Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over."

Sarah looked up at her father then turned away. He was right. It's been almost two months since Emily died and Sarah still wasn't used to the idea of her gone. Sure, they fought and never seemed close, but Emily was still her mother and still loved her. Emily took care of Sarah through many hardships and even when it didn't seem like it, Emily loved her daughter, too.

She felt her emotions start to rise but masked it. The Winchesters headed over to the park where Andrea and Lucas were. Sarah hadn't seen a playground full of other kids since before her father came into her life and changed it. She remembered sitting on the swings all alone at recess, watching the other kids play.

Dean broke into her thoughts. "Let's go say hi, Sarah," he told her.

Sarah nodded and followed her father over to where Lucas was drawing pictures at a park bench.

"He might feel better if another kid was there," he explained.

She nodded but knew it wasn't true. Her psychologist tried doing group sessions with other kids and it never made things easier. Sarah tried sharing with them but everyone just laughed and the psychologist prescribed her a pill to take.

Dean kneeled in front of the bench. "How's it going?" he asked Lucas. He noticed the boy's little, green army men beside his drawing pad and picked one up. "Oh, I used to love these things. Ever play with these, Sarah?"

Sarah was still in her thoughts when he asked. She snapped out of them. "Uh, what did you say, Dad?"

"Look sharp, Sarah we're on a job, remember?" he told her. "I asked if you ever played with these before."

"Yeah, I had a whole bucket full of them. Want to play, Lucas?" Sarah turned to Lucas who completely ignored her. He just kept on drawing.

Dean smirked at him, "So crayons is more your thing. That's cool. Chicks dig artists." He looked through Lucas' drawings. "Hey, these are pretty good. You mind if we sit and draw with you for a while?" Dean stood up, picking up a blue crayon. "I'm not so bad, myself. Heh," he told him, standing up and sat on the bench, beside Lucas. Dean handed Sarah a piece of paper and Sarah kneeled on Lucas' other side, opposite him. She cleared a spot so she could have room, careful of his things. "You know, I'm thinking you can hear me, you just don't want to talk. I don't know what exactly happened to your dad, but I know it was something real bad." Dean stopped drawing for a second then continued, "I think I know how you feel."

Sarah was drawing her favorite Pokémon as her father talked. She paused, too, staring at the paper.

"When I was your age, I saw something." Dean paused again, longer this time. A lump rose in his throat as he thought about the night his mother died. He remembered her bursting into flames and fire everywhere. Sarah looked up at him and saw him stare into space for a moment, sad. Dean snapped out of his thoughts. "Anyway…Maybe you don't think anyone will listen to you or, uh…or believe you. I want you to know that I will."

Sarah listened to her father, closely. Her fears and worries were starting to cease with the possibility that maybe her father would believe her, after all.

"You don't even have to say anything. You could draw me a picture about what you saw that day with your dad on the lake." Dean finished his drawing. "Okay. No problem. This is for you. This is my family. That's my dad, and that's…That's my mom. That's my geek brother. That's my little girl," he smiled over at Sarah then returned to Lucas. "And that's me." Lucas just kept right on drawing not even looking up. "All right, so I'm a sucky artist. We'll see you around, Lucas." Dean stood up, placing the drawing pad where he was sitting and walked back to Sam and Andrea.

Sarah stood up, brushing dirt off her jeans. She looked at Lucas, placing her hands inside her sweatshirt pocket. "Thanks, Lucas," she told him and turned around. Sarah ran to catch up with her father.

The three adults were talking about Lucas when Sarah ran up to them. "We heard, sorry." Dean was telling Andrea.

"What do the doctors say?" asked Sam.

"Oh, that it's a kind of post-traumatic stress," she replied.

He shook his head, "That can't be easy for either of you."

"We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot." Andrea looked over at Lucas. "It's just…when I think about what Lucas went through…what he saw…"

"Kids are strong," said Dean. "You'd be surprised what they can deal with." He looked down at Sarah, combing his fingers through her hair. Sarah leaned against his leg.

Andrea crossed her arms, lightly. "You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there, drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish…" Lucas walked up to them. "Hey, sweetie."

Lucas handed a drawing up to Dean who took it, thanking him. Lucas never even looked up or responded. He just turned around and walked back to the bench. The adults exchanged looks between each other. Andrea was surprised.

Back at the motel room, Dean and Sarah waited for Sam who was out, trying to find more answers. Dean was checking his voicemail to see if he had any messages. Sarah lied on her back with headphones on, listening to her PSP as she stared up at the ceiling. She was thinking about what her father told Lucas. Her heart really wanted to believe that he would believe her about the dreams and the mysterious man that talks to her. When the song that was playing ended, she sat up, pushing her headphones down to around her neck. "Dad."

"What?" he asked, returning a text from a fellow hunter.

"Did you really mean it?" she asked.

"About what?"

Sarah was staring down at her PSP. "What you told Lucas at the park."

Dean looked back at his daughter. "Yeah, you saw how freaked out he was."

"No, that's not what I mean. Would you really believe if I told you what I couldn't tell you before?"

He closed his phone and shifted around until he was sitting sideways on the foot of the bed. "Are you saying you're ready to talk?"

She nodded.

Dean stared at her. "Okay, you have until your uncle gets back. I'm all ears."

Sarah took a deep breath. "When I was five, I started having this dream."

"What kind of dream?"

She hesitated, "Dreams that later came true or that happened already."

Dean didn't know how to respond when he heard that. "You mean, like…like premonitions?"

Sarah nodded and slowly raised her head. "Dad, I saw what happened to your mom."

The moment he heard that, Dean shot to his feet, walking away from the bed. "That isn't funny, Sarah," he exclaimed and ran his hand through his hair.

"I'm not making this up, Dad. I see deaths in my dreams. I saw my aunt die. I saw Lucas on the way here, being pulled into the lake. You said you would believe me." Dean looked down with just his eyes, his back to his daughter and closed his eyes. "Please, Dad. " Sarah looked at her father, hoping and praying he would. "Uncle Sam believed me."

Dean looked back. "You already told your uncle?"

Sarah nodded.

"You felt you could tell him and not me? Did Sam even have to pull your arm to get you to talk?"

"I had to tell him, I was dreaming about Jessica's death, too. He had to know," she explained.

Dean looked forward again. It hurt to hear that his own daughter opened up to someone else when she couldn't open up to him. Sarah was like him more than he could ever know. Dean couldn't even talk to his own father and here he was, finding out his daughter couldn't either.

"I saw everything, the fire, Grandma and Grandpa, you carrying Uncle Sam out of the house…I…I would never, ever make fun of my own family especially when family is the most important thing in the world." Dean walked over and sat down in front of her. "That's why I'm so different, Dad and why Mom was so afraid of me."

Dean stared at the floor, nodding before he looked at Sarah.

"Do you believe me?" she asked.

"I do, Sarah."

A smile appeared on her face. "You do?"

He nodded, right as Sam came through the door. "So I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie."

Dean looked up at his brother. "What do you mean?"

"I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there." Sam looked at Dean. "Will Carlton is dead."

"He drowned?" asked Sarah.

Sam nodded, "Yup, in the sink."

"What the hell?" Dean asked. "So, you're right, we're not dealing with a creature, we're dealing with something else."

"Yeah, but what?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. Water wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water." Dean paused, coming to a conclusion. "Water that comes from the same source."

"The lake," said Sam.

"Yeah."

"Which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake is draining. The lake will be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it's running out of time," explained Sam.

"And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone, anywhere." Dean stood up. "This is gonna happen again, soon."

"And we do know one other thing for sure."

Sarah asked, "What's that, Uncle Sam?"

"We know this has got something to do with Bill Carlton."

Dean was sitting on the other bed now. "Yeah, it took both his kids."

"And I've been asking around. Lucas' dad, Chris? Bill Carlton's godson," Sam continued.

"Let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit." Dean stood up again. The Winchesters piled into the Impala and drove back to the lake where Bill Carlton was sitting on the lake dock again, just staring at the lake.

"Mister Carlton?" Sam spoke, getting his attention. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."

"We're with the department…"

Bill cut Dean off. "I don't care who you're with. I've answered enough questions today."

Sam spoke anyway. "Your son said he saw something in that lake. What about you? You ever see anything out there?"

He didn't respond.

"Mister Carlton, Sophie's drowning and Will's death, we think there might be a connection to you or your family."

"My children are gone," Bill said, still staring at the lake. "It's…" He paused for a moment then looked up at Sam and Dean. "It's worse than dying."

That made Dean look down at his daughter and hugged her head to him.

"Go away," he told them. "Please."

The Winchesters turned and walked back to the Impala. "So what do you think?" Sam asked when they got close.

"I think the poor guy's been through hell," replied Dean as he walked to his side of the Impala. "I also think he's not telling us something."

Sam leaned on the roof of the Impala. "So now what?"

He shrugged and looked over at the Carltons' house.

"What is it?"

"Huh," Dean said. "Maybe Bill's not the only one who knows something." He took Lucas' drawing from inside his leather jacket and unfolded it. It was a picture of the house he was looking at. Dean looked over at Sam. They knew who to talk to next.


	12. Chapter 12

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 12

It took some persuading but Dean was able to talk with Lucas a second time. Like before, he did all the talking. Dean told Lucas how when he lost his mother, he didn't want to talk much either but knew he had to be brave for her. Lucas must have been listening because he gave Dean another picture he drew. Sarah listened as well as she stood in front of her uncle in the open doorway of Lucas' bedroom, gripping the doorframe in her hands. She remembered how she would hear strange noises in her closet and under her bed and how her mother told her not to be afraid. Sarah had to be brave, too for both her and her father.

Once Dean received the drawing, they went looking for the house that was across the street from a church. When they did find it, they spoke to an elderly woman. "We're sorry to bother you, ma'am, but does a little boy live here, by chance? He might wear a…a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle."

"No, sir," she replied. "Not for a very long time. Peter's been gone thirty-five years now." The woman sighed. "The police never…I never had any idea what happened. He just disappeared," she turned around from staring at an old framed photo of a twelve-year-old boy. "Losing him…"

Sam noticed several green army men over on a table and nudged Dean, who looked, too.

"…You know…It's…" the woman stared at the floor, sadly. Finally, she looked up. "It's worse than dying."

There was a long pause until Dean asked, "Did he disappear from here?"

"He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school, and he never showed up," she explained.

Dean walked over to a mirror, to another old photo of the boy, Peter in a Boy Scout uniform, with another boy his age. Dean flipped it over and read the back, "Peter Sweeny and Billy Carlton, 1970." They hurried back to the lake to find Bill Carlton taking a boat out to the middle of it. Dean and Sam hurried over to the dock as fast as they could. They called out to Bill, trying to get him to turn around.

Sarah stayed back, near the Impala and watched as Bill's boat shot into the air and landed up-side down in the water. Bill never resurfaced.

Back at the station, after Lucas had a meltdown, grabbing onto Dean's arm, desperately wanting to tell him something, the sheriff blew their cover and suggested the Winchesters leave town. Deep down, Dean didn't want to. He was worried about Lucas. Even after they checked out of their motel room and hit the road, Dean just couldn't shake a feeling he had and decided to drive to Andrea's house.

When Dean rang the doorbell, Lucas appeared at the door, scared more than he had seen him, so far. "Lucas?" he asked, concerned and followed the boy upstairs. Dean moved him out of the way and kicked the bathroom door in and Sam ran inside.

Sam reached into the bathtub and tried to pry Andrea from under the water as something tried pulling her back down. Sarah, feeling a bit hesitant at first, rushed in and took hold of her uncle's waist from behind and tried to help pull Andrea out, too. She and Sam pulled as hard as they could while Dean held Lucas back, out in the hallway. Finally, they managed to get her out of the bathtub. Once Sam made sure she was okay, they left the bathroom so Andrea could get dressed.

Since Dean was taking care of Lucas, Sam tended to his niece, kneeling down to her level. "You okay, Sarah? I kind of smashed you in there."

Sarah nodded, "Yeah, I'm okay. I never cried when I got hurt since I was four."

"What made you do that?" he asked, curious.

She just shrugged. "I don't know. I had a reaction and Dad told me to never think twice about reactions so I just did it. You're not mad, are you?"

Sam looked down, smiling for a bit. "No, of course not, that's what being a hunter is all about." He still wasn't a fan of his brother's decision of putting Sarah in the family business. Sam had to admit, though. She sure was learning fast. Sam shifted, sitting flat on the top of the stairs. "Sit down, Sarah."

Sarah sat next to her uncle.

Sam looked back at his brother who was still comforting Lucas. He looked back at Sarah, lowering his voice, "I've been thinking about what you told me before about your dream."

"I told Dad already."

He froze. "What exactly did you tell him?"

"That I have dreams of what happened or will happen," she said.

"You didn't mention me, did you?"

"Just that I told you first."

Sam had his arms hanging over his knees, grasping one in the other hand. "Not that I have them, too?" he asked.

Sarah shook her head. "Why?"

He moved closer to his niece and said, "You can't tell him, okay. Your dad cannot know that I have them, too."

"Why not, Uncle Sam? You don't think Dad would believe you, because he would. Dad believed me." Sarah was brightening up as she told her uncle how much her father believed her.

"It's not that, it's just…your dad has taken care of me for as long as I can remember. He wouldn't understand all this and would worry about me. I can't tell him I knew about Jessica's death and didn't do anything to stop it."

Sarah looked away at that.

"What?" he said.

"Dad may or may not already know about that," she admitted, uneasily as Andrea came out of the bathroom and went over to her son and Dean.

Sam moved his hands to his sides, leaning on them. "You just said you didn't tell him."

"I told him I had to tell you about my dreams because I was dreaming about Jessica. That's all, I swear."

"Do not tell him anything else, Sarah," he told her. "Keep this between us. Understand?"

Sarah nodded, "Yes, Uncle Sam." Now that she was opening up to her father, Sarah really didn't want to keep anymore secrets from him. Sam seemed like he didn't want Dean to know, though and Sarah didn't want to disappoint her uncle. She didn't want to disappoint her father either. As long as he doesn't ask, maybe it would be okay.

The next morning while Dean went snooping through the sheriff's photo albums, Sam talked with Andrea. "Can you tell me?" he asked her.

"No," she replied, quietly. "It doesn't make any sense." Andrea started crying. "I'm going crazy."

"No, you're not," he assured her. "Tell me what happened. Everything."

Andrea leaned against her hands, "I heard…I…I thought I heard, um…There was this voice."

"What did it say?" asked Sarah, who was sitting beside her uncle, on her legs as she leaned on the table, on her arms.

Sam noticed how she was sitting and told her to not to lean on their table. She sat back on her legs. "Sorry about that," he apologized to Andrea. "What did it say?"

"It said…It said, 'come play with me,'" Andrea told him. She sat there, crying softly and scared out of her mind. "What's happening?"

At that moment, Dean came rushing into the kitchen, carrying a photo album. He set it on the table in front of Andrea. "Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?"

"What?" she questioned. "Oh, um…No…I-I-I mean, except that's my dad right there. He must've been about twelve in these pictures."

Dean looked between Sam and Sarah. "Chris Barr's drowning, the connection wasn't to Bill Carlton, it was to the sheriff."

"Bill and the sheriff," Sam added. "They were both involved with Peter."

"What about Chris?" asked Andrea. "My dad? Wha…? What are you talking about?"

Dean had looked over at Lucas, who was standing at the backdoor, staring outside. "Lucas?"

Andrea quickly looked back.

"Lucas, what is it?" he asked.

Lucas walked outside, not saying a word. The Winchesters and Andrea followed. "Lucas? Honey?" Andrea called after her son.

He stopped and looked up at Dean, slowly.

Dean stared back at him, "You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, okay?" he told Andrea.

Andrea took her son's hand and led him back to the house. Dean got his duffel bag from the Impala and took out a few shovels. The three of them then started digging until Dean's shovel hit something metal. Getting down on their knees, Dean, Sam, and Sarah used their hands to push away the dirt, and Dean and Sam pulled out an old bicycle covered in dirt.

Suddenly, a gun was cocked behind them, making them turn around on the spot. "Who are you?"

Sam and Dean slowly lowered the bike. Sarah grabbed ahold of her father's blue shirt, gripping it tightly as she stared at the gun in the sheriff's hand.

"Put the gun down, Jake," Sam told the sheriff.

The sheriff, Jake glanced down at the bicycle with just his eyes, "How did you know that was there?"

"What happened?" Dean asked him. "You and Bill killed Peter? Drowned him in the lake and then buried his bike? You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You and Bill killed Peter Sweeny thirty-five years ago. That's what we're talking about," he told him.

Andrea hurried over to them. "Dad!"

"And now you got one pissed-off spirit."

"It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love," Sam added. "It's gonna drown'em, and it's gonna drag their bodies God knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter's mom felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you. And it's not gonna stop until it does."

"Yeah, and how do you know that?" Jake questioned, his gun still pointed at them.

"Because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton."

"Listen to yourself. Both of you, you're insane," he said.

"I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us, but if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them and burn them into dust. Now, tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake."

"Dad," said Andrea, shocked of what she was hearing. "Is any of this true?"

"No," he replied, sharply, "They're liars, and they're dangerous."

"Something tried to drown me," she told her father. "Chris died on that lake. Dad, look at me."

Jake slowly looked at his daughter.

"Tell me you…didn't kill anyone."

He couldn't speak. Jake just breathed, heavily.

"Oh my God," Andrea realized.

"Billy and I were at the lake…" he began.

During Jake's story of what happened when he was twelve of what he and Bill did to Peter, Sarah remembered her dream and got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She slipped away without the adults noticing and hurried down to the lake where Lucas was already walking towards it. When she got close, Sarah saw him kneel down and reach into the water. Her father and Lucas' mother called out to Lucas from behind her.

Thinking fast, Sarah ran over in time to pull Lucas away from the lake's edge by the back of his shirt and shoved him far away from the lake as she possibly could. Lucas looked up at her, scared and confused of why she did it. Sarah was panting up a storm, "You're…welcome," she told him before she felt something wrap around her ankle and yank her into the lake.

Lucas quickly scooted back, farther away even more terrified, especially when Sarah didn't resurface.

When Dean and Sam were close enough, they saw Lucas but not Sarah. Dean sprinted faster and dove into the lake, almost forgetting to take in a breath of air. Sam jumped right in, behind his brother as Andrea fell to her knees beside her son, hugging him to her. She scanned the lake, waiting to see them resurface. They did, long enough to see if one of them had found Sarah. Dean dove back under, frantically searching everywhere.

Andrea looked back to see her father removing his jacket, walking into the lake. "Peter," he called out to the spirit. "If you can hear me…Please, Peter, I'm sorry."

"Daddy. Daddy, no," Andrea told him.

"I'm so…I'm so sorry. Take me instead, Peter. It's my fault! I'm so sorry! Just end it!"

"Jake, no!" Sam yelled out to him.

Suddenly, Jake was pulled down just as Dean resurfaced long enough to take in more air. Dean had to find his daughter. He just had to. No matter what it took, Dean wasn't about to lose her. Sam kept looking, too until he surfaced for the last time, feeling defeated on not being able to find his niece. It pained him to think about it and he barely knew the kid.

Andrea looked over at Sam, holding Lucas close to her. She could see how disappointed he was and understood he may have lost his only niece. She hugged her son, tightly, thankful he was all right when she heard someone rise out of the water. She looked up to see Dean holding his daughter in his arms, who wasn't moving.

Back on dry land, Dean laid Sarah onto her back and put his right ear to her chest. "She's not breathing," he declared. Dean started breathing into his daughter's mouth, pinching her nose as he checked again, in between. "Come on, Sarah. Please be okay. Don't clock out now."

Lucas watched as Dean continued the kiss of life with his daughter. Even Lucas had a scared look on his face. Finally, Sam couldn't bear to see his brother go through all that and stopped him.

"Dean, she's gone," he told his older brother.

Dean looked down at Sarah as tears filled his eyes and one of them ran down his right cheek. He dropped his head and shut his eyes, tight. Sam looked away, gripping the back of his brother's neck as he tried to hide his own tears.

"I'm so sorry," Andrea spoke, softly.

Dean got to his feet and started to turn and walk away. When he was a few feet away, he heard coughing. Dean turned on the spot to see Sarah coughing up lake water, her eyes still closed. "Sarah?" he asked, heading back to her side, falling onto his knees again.

Sarah coughed a couple more times before she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was her father staring down at her, hopeful. "Daddy?"

Dean scooped her up, into his arms and hugged her, tight to him as he held his head against hers. Tears of joy replaced the tears of sorrow. Sam was amazed just how much his brother cared about his daughter. Two years ago before he left for college, Sam knew his brother wasn't fond of being around kids and all that love, mushy stuff. Now, here he was, embracing his daughter, lovingly as he let the tears flow. Eventually, Sam had Dean let go so he could hug Sarah, too.

Dean watched his younger brother hug Sarah, thinking of the huge responsibility he had with those two. The weight on his shoulders, he felt. Dean was an older brother and father now and he had to watch out for both.

Eventually, the Winchesters left the lake and headed back to their motel, rechecking in so they could get some rest before they had to leave in the morning. Sarah was the first to shower, followed by Dean, then Sam. When Dean came out of the bathroom dressed as Sam went in, he wandered over to his daughter, who was watching _Hey, Arnold_ on TV as she lied on her stomach, hanging halfway off the foot of the bed.

Dean sat right beside her, on the edge. "That kid has a weird shaped head," he inquired, staring at the TV.

Sarah didn't respond, just continuing to watch the TV.

He stood up, onto his right leg and crawled to the other side of her, lying down next to her. "Sarah," he said.

Sarah pulled her eyes away from the TV to look at him.

"I wanted to let you know how proud I am of you. Even though I almost lost you, you did it to save a life and because of you, Lucas is safe and sound," he told her.

"You're not mad I left your side on a hunt?" she asked him.

Dean looked down at the bedspread, "I was," he replied, truthfully before looking back at her. "But if you hadn't of, Lucas could have drowned."

Sarah did the same as her father and looked away for a second. "So, no spanking this time?"

He put his left arm around her and smiled. "No, just hugs and kisses."

Sarah returned the smile they shared.

Dean hugged her to him in one arm and kissed her head, before taking his arm back, folding it underneath him with the other arm. "You're getting a lot better with each hunt, Sarah. Especially your boldness. You ran in and helped Sam pull Andrea out of the tub. You saved Lucas from falling in the lake. I have never been so prouder than I am right now. Great job, kid."

Sarah looked at him. "Thanks, Dad. Mom said, great job to me but it always sounded forced. Yours didn't at all."

"That's because I mean it," he said. There was a moment of silence until Dean said, "So, you wrestled with big boys, huh?"

She nodded, "My second cousins are all teenagers. They let me play football with them, and Mark, the one who I was closest to use to teach me how to wrestle. He was the one who gave me my PSP before he left."

"Where did he go?" Dean asked, curious.

Sarah looked away, sadly. "The war in Iraq."

"I'm sorry, Sarah," he told her, softly.

"Besides you and Uncle Sam, he was the only one who encouraged me and listened to me."

Dean rubbed her back, up and down, and from side to side. To take her mind off her second cousin, he asked if she could show him what he taught her. Getting up, onto her legs, Sarah pounced on her father and wrestled with him. Not for real, but for fun. Sarah was able to pin her father down with her knee until Dean flipped her over and pinned her down. They continued even after Sam came out of the bathroom, dressed in pajamas and showered.

The next morning, Dean checked them out of the motel, and Andrea and Lucas came to see them off and drop off some sandwiches for the road, handmade by Lucas himself.

Dean and Lucas put the sandwiches in the Impala while Sam and Andrea talked. Dean placed the plate wrapped in plastic wrap on the front seat and sat down, facing Lucas. He sighed, "All right. If you're gonna be talking now, this is a very important phase so I want you to repeat it to me, one more time."

Excited, Lucas said, "Zeppelin rules!"

Dean raised his hand up, "That's right, up high."

The kid returned the high five and even gave one to Sarah who was standing beside him. Lucas smiled at Sarah. When his mother and Sam walked over to them and saw his mother give Dean a kiss, he instantly reached over and gave Sarah a peck on the cheek, surprising her.

Dean and Andrea smiled at the scene before Dean stood up and started walking to his side of the Impala. "Sam, Sarah, move your asses," he told them.

Sarah waved good-bye to Lucas and started to get into the backseat when Sam offered her the chance to sit up front again. Excited, she took it, shutting the door as Sam got in the backseat, behind her. Sarah hadn't sat up front since she met her uncle.

Dean put the keys in the ignition and put it into drive. The five of them waved good-bye one last time as he drove from the curb. They headed off to continue their search for John Winchester.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hope everyone had a great holiday! Sorry I hadn't posted the last week. Again, thanks for your reviews/favorites/following! I do appreciate it.**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 13

On a chilly, dark night, behind a tall tree was a woman who tried to scream as she banged on the window. There was only one problem: there was no sound and the blond-haired woman tried desperately to get someone's attention and nothing could be done to help her.

Sarah shot up in the bed she shared with her father, breathing hard. She looked around the dark motel room the Winchesters had checked into for the night, in between jobs. A couple months had passed since their job in Wisconsin. They had several ones in between including one with a demon that was crashing planes, and both Dean and Sarah had to face their fear of flying. Oh yeah, Sarah was defiantly a clone of her father Sam and Dean had learned. Believe it or not though, Sarah was more willing to face it than Dean was because she knew they had a job to do and people to save.

After that, they had run-ins with Bloody Mary, a shape-shifter, the Hook Man, and several bugs who were killing anyone involved with a realtor company when a housing development was built on sacred burial grounds. Over the last months since Dean found his daughter, he has seen her grow, mentally and maturely faster than any other kid he knew of. Not that Sarah didn't seem like a kid, she was seven years old, still. However, Sarah was becoming a great hunter like himself. It continued to pain him to see her have to go through this but he never let her get out of his or Sam's sights if he could help it.

Now, as Dean slept, unknown to him that Sarah had woken up in the middle of the night. Sarah happened to look over and see her uncle awake as well. She pushed back the covers and slid down from the bed, running around it to climb onto his bed.

"Did you see the woman, too?" she asked him.

Sam looked at his niece and nodded.

Sarah looked over at the form of her still-sleeping father and then returned her gaze to Sam. "I'll tell Dad I dreamed it so he won't know you did, too."

Sam agreed. "Go back to sleep, all right. We'll figure this out, tomorrow."

She nodded and he gave her a comforting hug and kissed her head before Sarah slid down from his bed. She returned to her side of hers and Dean's bed, climbing back into it. Covering herself back up, Sarah snuggled against her father, hugging his upper, left arm to her as he laid on his stomach, hugging his pillow to him. To her, her father was way better than having a teddy bear.

The next morning, Sam sat on his bed drawing the same tree over and over again in a notepad. Sarah sat next to him. "Did you see this tree?" he asked her, keeping his voice down so Dean wouldn't hear as he tried to wrap his head around why it looked so familiar to him.

Sarah nodded up at her uncle. "Yeah," she whispered, "Right in front of the house."

Dean was surfing the internet on Sam's computer, looking for more jobs. He found one about a crew who went missing off the coast of California and some cow mutilations in Texas. Sam and Sarah weren't paying any attention to him, though. "Hey!"

The two of them looked over at Dean.

"Am I boring you two with this hunting evil stuff?"

"No, Dad, we're just trying to sort something out," Sarah told her father.

Sam continued with his tree drawing, "Yeah, but we're listening to you, too."

Dean tapped his pencil on the table as he stared at the computer screen. "And here, a Sacramento man shot himself in the head, three times." He held up the last three fingers on his hand towards his brother and daughter but neither of them was paying any attention. He moved the same hand up and down, and from side to side. "Any of these blowing up your skirts, pals?"

Finally, it dawned on Sam why the tree seemed familiar to him. "Wait, I've seen this."

"You have," Sarah asked, "where?"

"Seen what," Dean asked. "Are you two gonna let me in on this little tea party?"

Sam stood up and hurried over to his bag and started digging for his father's journal.

"What are you doing?"

He ignored Dean as he opened the journal and pulled out a photo of him and Dean when they were kids, with their parents. Sarah crawled over to her uncle, curious. She stared at it upside down before Sam stood up, taking the photo with him. "Dean, Sarah, I know where we have to go next," he said, looking between them.

"Where?" asked Dean.

"Back home," Sam looked at Dean, with realization in his eyes. "Back to Kansas."

Dean stared his brother and gave a small laugh. "Okay random, where that come from?"

Sam looked away, quickly, stealing a glance from Sarah before he walked over to Dean, setting the photo down. "Ok, uh, this picture was taken in front of our old house. Right? The house Mom died."

Dean picked up the photo as Sarah climbed down from the bed and hurried over to his side to get a better look at it. He looked up at Sam with an okay-where-are-you-going-with-this expression, "Yeah."

"And it didn't burn down, right? I mean, not completely. They rebuilt it right?"

Dean stuttered, confused, "I-I guess so. What the hell are you talking about?"

Sam sat down, "Okay, this is gonna sound crazy but the people who live in our old house…Sarah and I think they may be in danger."

"Why would you two…" Dean quickly looked at Sarah. "You had another dream, didn't you?"

Sarah nodded, slowly.

"Are you sure it's another one of your visions, Sarah?"

She nodded. "Positive, Dad. Why else would I be dreaming of your house?"

"But how do you know it's our house? Because of some tree?" he questioned.

Sarah looked over to her uncle for some help. So did Dean.

"There's something you two aren't telling me," Dean came to the conclusion. "So someone start talking." No one said a word. "Sarah, do I need to hold you down and tickle it out of you."

"No Dad," she said, backing away. Sarah looked back at her uncle. "Just tell him, Uncle Sam. I did and nothing happened."

Sam looked down, and then stood up, walking away. "Just trust us on this, Dean."

Dean stood up, gently pushing Sarah out of his way as he walked over to him. "Trust you?" he asked. "Come on, that's weak. You have to give me more than that? Tell me what?"

"Uh…I can't really explain it, is all."

"I could explain it," Sarah shrugged from behind her father.

Sam looked over her, "Sarah, hush. You promised."

"Are you making my kid keep something from me?" Dean demanded of his brother.

"It's nothing important, Dean. I promise."

"Fine, if it's nothing important than…" Dean rounded on his daughter. "What's your uncle hiding?"

Sarah backed away, "I can't say, Dad. I was sworn not to tell."

He shrugged, "Okay. If that's how you two want to play." Dean grabbed her up in his arms and dropped Sarah onto the bed. He started tickling her, all over making her laugh. "Ready to talk yet, Sarah?"

Sarah laughed out loud as she tried to squirm away from his reach. It was no use. Dean held her down and did not ease off. "Dad…stop… That tickles!" she managed to say in between laughs and giggles.

Sam stood there, not saying a word. _Maybe it was time for Dean to know_, he thought. He wondered how long Sarah could hold out before Dean got tired and stopped on his own. Except, Sarah had gave in and confessed anyway, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Okay…Okay! Sam has…visions…too!"

Dean stopped, staring at his daughter in shock as she tried to catch her breath. He looked up his younger brother. "Is it true?"

Sam looked at his niece, sadly and then closed his eyes as he sighed. "Yeah…yeah it's true."

Sarah sat up. "Sorry, Uncle Sam."

"It's okay, Sarah. It's not your fault." Sam looked at Dean. "Just like Sarah, I have nightmares that come true."

"So you both had the exact same dream?" Dean questioned.

Sam and Sarah both nodded.

Dean walked over and sat on the bed behind his daughter, running his hands along his hair.

"I dreamed about Jessica's death days before it happened. Sarah didn't even have to tell me and I still did nothing," Sam explained. "Now we're dreaming about that tree, our house, and that woman screaming for help."

"You said you believed me, Dad when I told you," said Sarah. "You did, didn't you?"

Dean looked over at her. "I…do…I mean I want to believe you, but…" He looked between her and Sam. "People sometimes have weird dreams. It doesn't mean anything."

Sarah looked as if she may cry right then and there. "Dad."

He looked at her.

"I promised myself I would never put my trust out there again after no one believing me and I did just for you. Because you told me you would believe me."

"Look Sarah," Sam spoke up, "We can worry about that later. Right now, this woman may be in danger." Sarah stood up onto her hands and knees, and crawled over to the head of the bed and dropped onto one of the pillows. He just shook his head. "Come on, Dean, let's just check it out." Sam shrugged. "It could be the thing that killed Mom and Jessica."

Dean leaped to his feet and walked away, his back to his brother. He looked back at Sam and forced a chuckle. "First you tell me you got this shining like Sarah and then you tell me that I gotta go back home. Especially when…"

"When what?"

"When I swore to myself that I would never go back there," he finished.

"Look," Sam stood up from his bed, "Dean, we have to check this out. Just to make sure."

He looked at Sam. "I know we do." Dean walked over to the computer and shut it down. "Why don't you start packing everything in the car? Sarah and I need to talk."

Sam agreed and once their stuff was packed, he started loading everything into the Impala. Dean walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, leaning on his knees.

"I'm sorry, baby girl," he told her, staring at the floor. "I'm human, okay. I admit I was a little skeptic about your dreams." Dean looked over at his daughter. "But I also realize how much it took to open up like that and tell me, especially after no one else would. " He shrugged, "I was supposed to be your last chance…"

Sarah lifted her head from the pillow to look over at her father.

"From now on, anything you tell me I will believe you, I promise."

"Really?" she asked him.

Dean nodded at her. "Look, about this next job we may have next…I will be learning from you."

"How?"

"You said you swore you would never open up to anyone and you still did with me," he shrugged. "Me, well, like I told Sam, I swore I would never go back home and it's looking like I have to. We both are doing things we never wanted to do."

"How come you never want to go back home?" she asked.

Dean looked back at the floor. "It hurts too much. I remember everything about that night." He forced another chuckle. "Look at me, telling my feelings to a seven-year-old."

Sarah crawled over to sit beside her father. "When Papa and Gram went to our apartment to pack up our stuff for storage, I didn't want to go back either and Mom didn't even die at home."

Dean looked at her. "Why didn't you?"

This time, Sarah looked at the floor and shrugged. "Too many memories, I guess." Dean put his arm around her. "One of the rare times Mom would have a day off, we would watch TV or play a board game together. Those were my favorite because we spent time together, sort of."

"What do you mean, sort of?"

"We sat on opposite ends of the couch or with a table between us," she explained.

Dean rubbed her upper arm, affectionately and kissed the top of her head. "We better hit the road so we can check out yours and Sam's dream."

Sarah looked up at her father, a look of worry on her face. "Are you gonna be okay?"

He smiled at her, "Yeah," in a soft voice.

She hugged him around the torso. "I'll stay by your side the whole time, Dad."


	14. Chapter 14

**Family is Where is the Heart is**

Chapter 14

Dean pulled up to his childhood home and parked on the street. He stared at it as he turned the car off. Never had he thought, after all those years, he would be back there. Dean could still hear his mother's voice echo through his mind. He could see the fire. Feel the warmth as it burned up his brother's nursery and soon the rest of the house.

Sam interrupted his thoughts. "You gonna be all right, man?"

A dog barked somewhere in the distance before Dean glanced at him, returning to the house. "Let me get back to you on that," he replied.

Sam stepped out of the Impala first, followed by Dean and Sarah. Dean stopped on the sidewalk, feeling his daughter take his left hand. "Sarah, I'm a grown man, you know," he told her. "I don't need my hand held like a kid on his first day of school."

"I was just trying to help," she told him.

He smiled at her. "I know you were." Dean took his hand away and held it on top of her head as they followed Sam up to the front door. He knocked and a blond-haired woman appeared in the doorway. "Sorry to bother you, ma'am but we're with the…"

Sam cut him off. He and Sarah both recognized her from their dream. "I'm Sam Winchester and this is my brother, Dean and my niece, Sarah. Um…We used to live here. You know, we were just driving by and we were wondering if we could come see the old place, show my niece where we grew up."

"Winchester," she replied. "Yeah, that is so funny. You know, I…I think I found some of your photos the other night."

"You did?" Dean asked, surprised by that. Surely everything would have burned up in the fire. They came out with nothing but themselves.

The woman invited them in and led the Winchesters into the kitchen where there were two kids inside. A girl around Sarah's age, possibly older and a little boy around two or three. The little boy was bouncing around in his playpen, chanting juice, over and over again. "That's Ritchie," she introduced her youngest child. "He's kind of a juice junkie."

Sarah was looking around the kitchen, her hands in her sweatshirt pocket. She smiled over at Ritchie. "My papa calls me a chocolateholic because of all the chocolate milk I drink."

The woman, Jenny shrugged, walking over to her son, "At least he won't get scurvy and you must have very strong bones." She smiled and then walked over to the table where her oldest child was sitting, coloring. "Sari, this is Sam, Dean, and Sarah. They used to live here."

"Hi," Sari, the little girl greeted, shyly.

Sarah waved at her. "Hello," she greeted back. "My dad and uncle lived here before I was born."

"Hey Sari," Sam greeted next as Dean just waved.

"So you just moved in," Dean said, noticing the still packed boxes around the house.

"Uh, yeah, from Wichita," Jenny replied.

"You got family here, or…?"

"No, I just, uh…Um needed a fresh start, that's all." She paused for a couple seconds. "So, new town. New job. I mean as soon as I find one. New house."

"So how are you liking it so far?" asked Sam.

"Well, all due respect to your childhood home, I mean, you must have lots of happy memories here. But this place has its issues," she told them.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just getting old. Like the wiring, you know. We've got flickering lights, almost hourly."

"Oh, that's too bad," said Dean. "What else?"

"Um, sink's backed up," she continued. "There's, uh, rats in the basement. I'm sorry. I don't mean to complain."

He shook his head like it wasn't a big deal to him, "No. Have you seen the rats or have you just heard scratching?"

Jenny thought about it first. "Just the scratching, actually."

"Mom," Sari spoke up from the table. Her mother walked over to her and kneeled to her level. Sarah watched. Emily never got down to her level like that. Sarah always had to look up. It wasn't just Emily though. Her side of the family just believed adults had to keep authority over children. "Ask them if it was here when they lived here."

"What, Sari?" Sam asked the little girl.

She looked up at him, "The thing in my closet."

"Oh, no, baby," Jenny told her. "There's nothing in their closets." She looked up at Sam and Dean. "Right?"

"Right," agreed Sam. "No, no, of course not."

Jenny looked back at Sari. "She had a nightmare the other night."

"I wasn't dreaming," Sari told her mother. "It came into my bedroom and it was on fire."

Sarah looked up at her father when she heard that, then back at Sari. In all the lore she read, she never read about any supernatural creature that was on fire. Sam was surprised to hear that, as well.

"We have to go," he announced and thanked Jenny for letting them see the house. Once they were outside and out of earshot, Sam told Dean, "You hear that? A figure on fire."

"And that was the woman, she was in your dreams?" said Dean.

"Yeah. Did you hear what she was talking about?" he asked. "Scratching, flickering lights. Both signs of a malevolent spirit."

"A spirit?" Sarah asked.

"Yes."

"But that's what I thought, too until Sari mentioned the thing on fire in her closet."

"Spirits can take any form, Sarah," Sam reminded her. "You think that's what killed Mom and Jessica, Dean?"

"I don't know," said Dean.

"I mean, did it come back or has it been there the whole time?"

"Or maybe it's something else entirely. We don't know," he told him.

"Whatever it is, shouldn't we get them out of the house?" asked Sarah. "I mean, if it's a malevolent spirit than they are in danger like we thought."

"Don't worry, Sarah," Dean assured her. "We will. We just have to figure something out first."

"Uh, we have to get them out now," said Sam.

Dean turned on him. "And how are we supposed to do that? Do you have a plan? A story she'll believe?"

Sarah couldn't take the arguing any longer. It's been bothering her since Sam joined them. "Can you just stop arguing for five seconds?!" she lashed out.

Sam and Dean stared at her, surprised.

"I'm sorry but all you both do is argue. No wonder Larry and that other realtor mistook you for a couple."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks before getting into the Impala and headed for a gas station. "We just gotta chill out, that's all," Dean was saying as he filled the tank up. "If this was any other kind of job, what would we do?"

Sarah was sitting crossed-legged on top of the trunk, to the left of her father. "Figure out what we're hunting," she answered, happily.

"Right, Sar," he nodded.

"Dig up the history of the house," Sam added.

"Except we already know what happened," said Dean.

"Yeah but how much do we know?" he asked. "I mean, how much do you actually remember?" Sam walked over to join them, leaning against the trunk.

"About that night, you mean?"

"Yeah."

Dean shook his head, "Not much. I remember the fire." He was looking everywhere but Sam and Sarah, remembering that night again. "The heat." Dean paused for a long time before he finished. "Then I carried you out the front door."

Sam looked up at him, at that. "You did?"

He looked at Sam. "Yeah. Why, you never knew that?"

Sam shook his head, "No."

"Wait, you never dreamed about it, Sam?" Sarah asked.

"I was just a baby when it happened," he told her.

"So?" she shrugged. "I wasn't even born yet and I dreamed about it more than once."

"Wait, your dreams show what also happened in the past?"

She nodded. "I thought you did, too."

"No, just what will happen." Sam looked over at his brother. "Did you know that she dreamed of that night?"

"Yeah, when she told me about the dreams in the first place," said Dean. "It's weird, though and kind of frightening, but…"

"But what?"

"Sarah not only has these dreams, she's immune to a skinwalker's bite."

Sam looked between his niece and brother. "How do you know that?"

"Before we picked you up, remember that hunt I told you about? The one we went on, just me and Sarah?" asked Dean.

"She got bit?"

He nodded. "I thought I would have to shoot her, right then and there but when I used a silver knife to test to see if she was affected, nothing happened."

"Maybe Sarah wasn't bit, after all," Sam shrugged.

"She was bleeding, Sam. All over."

"Wait, so do you think I could have an immunity to skinwalkers?" he asked.

Dean turned around and sat on the trunk, too. Sarah scooted forward to sit on Dean's right side since Sam was on his left. "I don't know but I'm not taking any chances."

There was a moment of silence before Sam broke it. "Okay. So if we're gonna figure out what's going on now, we have to figure out what happened then, and see if it's the same thing. Sarah, when does your dream start in of that night?"

Sarah looked at the asphalt, remembering. "Usually, it starts when Grandpa runs upstairs to your room," she told her uncle.

"You never see any kind of spirit or some sort of creature of any kind?"

She looked up to shake her head at him. "No, the yellow-eyed man talks to me then suddenly, it cuts to a vision."

""Yellow-eyed man?" Dean questioned.

"Yeah, he talks to me. Says he has plans for Uncle Sam and me, but mostly him," she explained.

"Plans, what kind of plans?" asked Sam.

Sarah just shrugged. "He won't tell me. He says I'll know when the time is right."

Dean stood up and headed for the restroom. "You two keep talking, I have to use the bathroom." He went around the corner, far away from Sam and Sarah. Looking back over his shoulder, Dean took out his cellphone, calling John. It went straight to voicemail. "Dad," he started. "I know I left you messages before. I don't even know if you get'em." He swallowed hard and looked back over his shoulder again. "But Sarah and I, we're with Sam, and we're in Lawrence, and there's something in our old house. I don't know if it's the thing that killed Mom or not, but, I don't know what to do." His voice started to shake a bit as he left the voicemail. "So, whatever you're doing, if you could get here…Please. I need your help, Dad. If it were Sarah in this position, I would come help her in an instant. Please." Dean hung up his cellphone, closing it before putting it away.

He wished John would just let him be found. It had been several months and they still hadn't found him. Now, when anyone calls John, his voicemail tells them to call Dean in case of an emergency.

The three of them asked around town, starting with the garage John worked in at the time Mary was killed and their lives were uprooted. A friend of his informed them how John was always reading strange old books after the fire and how he went to see a palm-reader. Sam looked up all the palm-readers in town and found quite a few. When he read off one by the name of Missouri Mosley, Dean looked it up in John's journal.

"I went to Missouri," he had Sam read, "And I learned the truth."

Dean shrugged, "I always thought he meant the state."

Sarah, curious, took the journal and on the way to Missouri Mosley's house, she started reading it. Every single page. Every little detail John wrote, Sarah read. In fact, Dean had to knock on her window quite a few times before he got her attention. Sarah set the journal on the seat next to her, leaving it open to the page she was reading and stepped out of the Impala, closing her door with two hands.

Inside, they waited while Missouri handled another person who wanted to know if his wife was cheating on him.

"Poor bastard," she said after she walked the guy out, "his wife is cold banging the gardener."

Sarah leaned over and was about to whisper," what did that mean?" to her father when Missouri answered, "Nothing you have to worry about until you're older" as she walked away.

"Wow, she's good," Sarah complimented.

"Thank you, sweetie," replied Missouri when she stopped to look back. She started to walk away when she stopped again. "Well, Sam, Dean, and Sarah, come on already. I ain't got all day." Then she walked away. The three of them exchanged looks between each other before they stood up and followed. "Well, let me look at ya." Missouri gave the three of them a once-over and laughed. "Oh, you boys grew up handsome." She pointed over at Dean, "and you were one goofy-looking kid." She looked down at Sarah. "Sarah here could almost pass as your twin if you had been a girl. She looks so much like you, Dean."

"Wait, are you saying I'm goofy-looking, too?" Sarah asked her.

"A little, yes."

Dean and Sarah exchanged looks as if to say, "We're not goofy-looking, are we?"

Missouri turned to Sam. "Sam," she said, taking a hold of his right hand. "Oh, honey. I'm sorry about your girlfriend. And your father, he's missing?"

Sam looked over at Dean before he asked her, "How did you know all that?"

"Well, you were just thinking it, just now."

"Where is he?" Dean asked. "Is he okay?"

Missouri sighed, "I don't know."

He shook his head, "don't know? You…you're supposed to be a psychic, right?"

She gave him a cold stare, "Boy, you see me sawin' some boney tramp in half? You think I'm a magician?" Dean was about to answer when she continued. "I may be able to read thoughts and sense energies in a room, but I can't just pull facts out of thin air."

Sarah was looking around the room. Something felt strange to her. It felt like someone else was there. "We're…"

"The only ones here at this moment," Missouri finished for the little girl. She hesitated then answered, "Yes, no one else is here but us."

"Are you sure, because…"

"Girl, are you questioning me?"

Sarah shook her head, no. "No, but…"

"If there was someone here with us, I would know about it."

Sarah quickly hid behind her father for protection. Missouri was a little intimidating to a kid her age.

"Sit, please," Missouri offered.

Sam, Dean, and Sarah walked over and sat down. Sarah sat in between them. Dean was about to put his feet up when Missouri told him not to, threatening to whack him with a spoon. His feet hadn't even left the ground yet.

"I didn't do anything," he said, innocently.

"Well, you were thinking about it," she said across from him in an armchair.

Sarah snickered at her father's predicament.

"I'm so glad you find this amusing, Sarah," he whispered to her.

"Hey, how many other kids get to hear their parents being reprimanded instead of them," Sarah teased him.

Dean just tickled her side for a second before turning back to Missouri.

"Okay," Sam began. "So, our dad."


	15. Chapter 15

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 15

"When did you first meet him?" Sam was asking Missouri Mosley.

"He came for a reading," she replied, "a few days after the fire. I just told him what was really out there in the dark. I guess you can say I drew back the curtains for him."

What about the fire?" Dean asked, leaning on his knees. "Do…do you know what killed our mom?"

"A little. Your daddy took me to your house. He was hopin' I could sense the echoes, the fingerprints of this thing."

"And could you?" asked Sarah, curiously.

Missouri shook her head, "I don't…"

"What was it?" Sam asked her.

"I don't know. Oh, but it was evil. So, you think something is back in that house?"

"Defiantly."

Sarah shrugged, "Why else would I be dreaming of a real house I have never seen before?"

"You dreamed it?" Missouri inquired.

The little girl nodded. "I've had others, too that came true."

"Sarah and I both dreamed about our family's old house," Sam explained.

Missouri took a deep breath. "I don't understand."

"What?"

"I haven't been back inside, but I've been keeping an eye on the place, and it's been quiet. No sudden deaths, no freak accidents. Why is it acting up now?"

Sam was about to say something but Sarah beat him to it. "Did anyone else live there after the fire and before this family?" she asked.

"After it was rebuilt a family did live there until their children graduated from high school but even then, it was still quiet," Missouri explained.

Sarah looked up, between her father and uncle. "Maybe it isn't what killed Grandma. I read somewhere that when evil hits somewhere, it leaves something behind that can attract other paranormal entities. Why else would it be happening now?"

"But with Dad gone missing and Jessica dying, whatever is happening at our house has to be connected with what killed her, Sarah," Sam told her.

"That's just my theory, why don't you share with the class, yours?" she shot back.

"Sarah Lynn, do not talk to your uncle like that," Dean shook his head, scolding her.

"Sarah makes a valid point though," said Missouri. "Maybe I should go check it out for myself and see what this thing is."

Dean helped Missouri out to the Impala. Sam opened the passenger door for her and closed it when she was inside, getting into the back with Sarah. Dean drove back to their old house. Sarah continued reading her grandfather's journal on the way. Sam couldn't believe how far she had read already.

When they knocked on the door, Jenny was holding her son, terrified out of her mind. "Sam, Dean," she greeted them. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Jenny," said Sam. He nodded his head over at Missouri, "Um, this is our friend, Missouri."

"If it's not too much trouble," said Dean. "We were hoping to show her the old house. You know, for old times' sake."

"You know, this isn't a good time," Jenny told them. "I'm kind of busy." She reached out to close the door.

Dean stepped forward. "Listen, Jenny," he said. "It's important. Ah!" Missouri smacked him on the back of the head.

"Give the poor girl a break," she scolded him. "Can't you see she's upset?"

Sam and Sarah tried to hide a couple snickers.

"Forgive this boy. He means well, he's just not the sharpest tool in the shed," Missouri told Jenny. "But hear me out."

Sarah stopped snickering once she heard her say that. She could tolerate hearing her father reprimanded and smacked upside the head, but hearing comments like that weren't sitting too well with her. When Jenny did let them in after some persuasion, they headed for upstairs. Sarah placed her hand on her father's arm, wanting to whisper something in his ear. Dean looked ahead at Sam and Missouri before bending over to lend her his ear.

"What?" he asked of her.

"Why did you let her talk about you like that, Dad?"

"It's okay, Sarah."

Sarah shook her head. He could tell she was starting to get worked up over nothing. "She called you stupid and you're not." Tears were starting to fill her eyes.

Dean kneeled to her level. "Hey, why are you crying? It's okay, really, Sarah. There's no need to shed any tears. It doesn't bother me in the least. I just ignored it and let it go."

"But I don't like it when someone's mean to you. At first I thought it was funny but she took it too far." Sarah was crying by now, her chest heaving in and out.

Dean noticed and tried to get her to take deep breaths before she started hyperventilating. He stood up and lifted Sarah up, into his arms. Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder, crying into it.

Her cries brought Jenny in. "Everything okay in here?" she asked.

Dean had his right hand on Sarah's upper back, rubbing it in circles. "Yeah, everything's fine. Sarah just got upset over what our friend said about me. She'll be fine. Excuse us," he told her.

Jenny nodded at him and Dean headed upstairs to Sari's bedroom where Missouri was walking around.

"What happened?" Sam asked, in a whisper.

"I'll explain later," Dean replied, also in a whisper. In a normal tone, he asked, "Anything yet?"

"There's a dark energy around here," Missouri repeated what she had told Sam before when they first entered the room. "This room should be the center of it."

"How come?" asked Dean.

"This was your brother's nursery. This is where it all happened."

Dean noticed some eerie whispering. Sarah must have heard it, too because she lifted her tear-stained face, looking around the ceiling. "There's something in here, Dad. I can feel it." She wiped her runny nose on the sleeve of her sweatshirt.

"Not just one thing, little one," said Missouri. "There's more than one spirit in this place."

Dean shifted Sarah so he could take out his EMF reader, turning it on.

"That an EMF?" she asked.

"Yeah," Dean replied.

"Amateur." Missouri walked away, towards the closet.

He just gave her a cold stare. Sarah watched him as Dean just ignored it. _Meanie Head! _She thought to herself.

"Name-calling isn't nice, Sarah," she told Sarah, looking around still, trying to identify what was in there.

Sarah sulked on her father's shoulder. "It's not fair," she mumbled. She felt a little better when Dean kissed her cheek, returning his attention to the EMF reader.

"I don't know if you boys should be disappointed or relieved but it seems like Sarah's theory was correct. Not one of these energies is the thing that took your mom."

"Wait, are you sure?" Sam asked, anxiously.

Missouri nodded.

"How do you know?"

"I can't feel the same one from the last time I was here," she explained. "They're somethin' different."

Dean turned his head to his daughter. "Sarah, if you can feel something here, yourself, can you feel what it is?" he asked her.

Sarah lifted her head again and looked around the room. She closed her eyes and suddenly a jolt of pain shot through her head. Sarah grabbed it, grunting in pain.

"Sarah?" he asked, concerned and worried now.

"There's two voices in this room," she managed to say.

Sam moved closer, "Can you make out what they're saying?"

"One wants this family dead…the other…I can't make it out." Sarah was squeezing her eyes so tightly, they were starting to water. Dean took her over to Sari's bed and sat her down on it, kneeling in front of her. He had his arms around her, lying on the bed. "It sounds like a woman's voice but…it's hard…to hear what she is…saying…"

Sam and Dean exchanged quizzical looks between each other. Just what was Dean's daughter, none of them knew for sure.

Dean looked over at Missouri. "Do you know what's going on? Why my kid can hear these spirits?"

"I don't know," she admitted.

He looked over at Sam, "Can you hear them?"

Sam shook his head, "No, but I can sense something."

"She…she's crying," Sarah informed them.

Right then and there, Dean had decided that enough was enough and lifted his daughter back into his arms and carried her downstairs, out to the Impala. He set her on the side of the hood. "Hey, you okay, Sarah?" he asked.

Sarah opened her eyes and looked up at her father. "My head still hurts but I'm okay."

Dean went over and opened his car door, he reached in and opened the glove compartment, pulling out a bottle of Ibuprofen and looked around the inside of the Impala for something to wash it down with. Luckily, Sam came out at that point and Dean asked him to go ask Jenny for a glass of water.

Sam went back inside and returned with the water. Dean broke a pill in half and gave one half to Sarah. She tossed it into her mouth and took a gulp of water, washing it down.

Once Sarah was taken care of, they got to work purifying the house while Jenny took her kids to the movies. Each of them took a floor and pounded holes in the wall to place tied up handkerchiefs of Angelica root, Van Van oil, crossroad dirt, and a few other things. Sam was almost strangled to death but Dean got there in the nick of time. He kicked a hole in the wall with his foot and tossed one in there. The extension cord that had wrapped around Sam's neck, loosened and Dean was able to remove it just as Sarah had gotten there.

They waited for the family in the kitchen. "You sure this is over?" Sam asked.

Missouri looked back at him. "I'm sure."

"I'm not," Sarah spoke up, truthfully. "Something doesn't feel right. I can still feel something."

At that point, the front door opened and closed and the lights came on. "Hello?" came Jenny's voice. "We're home." She looked around the kitchen at the mess that happened when Dean was attacked. "What happened?"

"Hi. Sorry," said Sam. "Um, we'll…we'll pay for all of this."

Dean gave his brother a look that said, "We will?"

"Don't you worry, Dean's gonna clean up this mess." Dean didn't move. Missouri looked back at him, "Well, what are you waiting for, boy? Get the mop. And don't cuss at me." She told him when he turned around, shaking his head, as if to say, "what the hell?"

Sarah felt her fists tighten and anger rise up inside of her. She couldn't control it anymore, she had to say something. "Quit talking to my dad like that! You're not his mom, you know!"

Everyone's heads turned towards her at the sudden outburst. Sam bent over and pulled his niece back towards him. "Sarah, calm down. It's okay," he told her.

"No it's not, Uncle Sam," she told him. "Dad didn't do anything to her and she treats him like he's some kid like me. Well, he's not and," she pointed to herself with her thumb, "I'm not gonna stay quiet about it."

Dean came back with a mop and bucket that Jenny had showed him where it was. "Sarah, relax. I told you, it's not a big deal. Just ignore her."

"No, Dad!"

Dean leaned on the mop. "Are you allowed to tell me no, young lady? Should we go out to the car?"

Sarah shook her head. "But…"

"Just leave it, Sarah Lynn." He added her middle name to let her know he meant what he said. Dean understood it upset her to hear him be talked to like that, but if he wasn't going to worry about it then Sarah shouldn't either.

Sarah and Sam helped Dean clean up and took Missouri home before coming back. Dean would have liked to head to a motel to get some rest but Sam and Sarah wanted to keep an eye on the place in case something happened. After a couple hours of waiting, the two of them saw their dream come true. Jenny was screaming at her window. Sam alerted Dean and the three of them ran inside the house. Sarah grabbed her shotgun from under the backseat before she rushed from the car.

Upstairs, Sam told her to get Sari while he grabbed Ritchie. Sarah ran inside Sari's bedroom to find some sort of creature on fire. She sidestepped towards the other girl's bed, holding her shotgun up and reached out her right hand towards Sari. Sari leaped from the bed and hid behind Sarah, which was kind of ironic considering Sari was a little taller than she was. Once Sarah got Sari to the door, Sam was there, holding Ritchie. He picked Sari up and told Sarah to follow him. Sarah backed away, still holding the shotgun up until she was out of the room, then she hurried after her uncle. If she didn't know better, Sarah could have sworn she heard it call her, Dean.

When they neared the door, Sam placed Sari down on her feet and told her to take her brother outside and to not look back. Once Ritchie was on the ground, Sam was pulled back. Sari screamed.

"Get out of here, Sari!" Sarah reminded her and turned on her heels after her uncle. Sam slammed into the kitchen counter then was thrown all over the place. Sarah turned every which way, trying to figure out what to do. Until her father could get in there, she had to do something. "Where are you, you ass?!"

When Sam was able to get to his feet, he was thrown against the wall and was pinned there. Sarah ran over and guarded him, raising her shotgun. Her heart was beating fast and her adrenaline rising with each passing second.

Sam screamed from behind her. "Sarah, get yourself out of here!" he ordered her.

"I'm not leaving you, Uncle Sam!" she told him, facing forward.

They heard Dean yell for them from outside as the fiery creature came from around the corner. Sarah shot at it several times but it wasn't doing a bit of good.

"Sarah! Stop shooting!" Sam told her.

"Why?" she asked. "It's gonna kill us."

"No…no it won't."

Dean got there at that point and raised his shotgun.

"Dean, no."

Dean asked why, as well.

"Because I know who it is," he told them. "I can see her now.

Dean and Sarah stared at the fiery creature as it came closer. It stopped and the fire vanished, revealing its true form. Sarah recognized her from one of her dreams and from Sam's photos. It was Mary Winchester.

Dean couldn't believe his eyes. He lowered his gun, his hand shaking. "Mom?"

Sarah quickly looked up at her father then back at her grandmother's spirit who was walking over to him.

Mary smiled at her first born son, "Dean." She then walked over to her youngest son. "Sam." They stared at each other, no one saying a word. "I'm sorry."

Sam scrunched his eyebrows together, "For what?"

She didn't respond. Instead, Mary turned fast and walked away, stealing a glance at her granddaughter and smiled. She looked up at the ceiling. "You get out of my house. And let go of my son." At that, Mary burst into flames and shot up to the ceiling. Dean shielded Sarah as they all covered their eyes. Once it was over, Sam was released from the wall and he stood there, panting.

Sarah looked around the room. "Now it's over," she said.

Sam agreed.

The next day, Dean was leaning against the Impala, looking through some old photos. The box that kept them safe along with some other stuff was open, sitting in his seat. "Thanks for these," he told Jenny.

"Don't thank me. They're yours," she replied.

Dean tossed them into the box and shut the lid.

Sam and Sarah were sitting on the front porch steps when Missouri came from inside. "Well, there are no spirits in there anymore. This time for sure." She sat down behind Sarah.

Sam and Sarah looked back at the lady. "Not even my mom?" he asked.

Missouri shook her head, "No."

Sam looked ahead for a moment. "What happened?"

"Your mom's spirit and the poltergeist's energy, they cancelled each other out," she explained. "Your mom destroyed herself going after that thing."

Sam looked at her. "Why would she do something like that?"

"Well, to protect her boys and grandchild, of course."

Sam looked away. Sarah reached up and touched his arm, resting her head against his leg to try and comfort her uncle. He used the other hand to rub the side of her head, affectionately.

"Sam, Sarah, I'm sorry," Missouri told him.

They both looked at her, confused. "For what?" Sam asked.

"You both sensed it was here," she replied, "even when I couldn't."

Sam shook his head, looking at the ground, and then looked back at Missouri. "What's happening to us?"

"I know I should have all the answers, but…I don't know."

Dean called out, "Sam, Sarah, you ready?"

Sarah stood up. "Coming, Dad." She turned around to face Missouri. "Um, Miss Missouri…" She placed her hands in her sweatshirt pocket. "Sorry about lashing out at you, last night. I got a little mad and I shouldn't have let my feelings get the best of me." Sarah shrugged. "It's just…My dad means a lot to me and usually when I get that close to someone, I can't just sit back and let someone be mean to them. You're a beautiful lady, by the way." Sarah turned and ran over to the Impala. Dean held his hand out and brushed it along the top of her head as she ran past him.

Sam looked at Missouri. "It's how she was raised, to say something nice to whomever she's apologizing to," he explained.

She looked back at him. "I know, I read her mind." Missouri smiled at him before he stood up, helping her up afterwards. Sam walked over to the Impala, too.

"Don't you three be strangers," Missouri called to the Winchesters.

Dean nodded once, "We won't."

"See you around."

Jenny waved from behind before Sam and Dean got into the Impala. Dean started the engine and with one last look, good-bye, drove away. Sarah was finishing up her reading in the backseat, already.

Later, Missouri walked inside her house, putting her purse down on the table. "Those kids. I mean, they have such powerful abilities. Why Sam couldn't sense his own father when Sarah could, I have no idea." She walked into the living room where none other than thee John Winchester, the man Sam, Dean, and Sarah were searching for, was sitting on the couch as he rubbed his face in his hands.

He stopped and looked at Missouri. "Mary's spirit," he said. "Do you really think she saved them?"

Missouri was silent for a moment. "I do."

He nodded and looked at his silver wedding band on his left hand, turning it with his other hand.

"John Winchester, I could just slap you. Why don't you go talk to your children?"

John continued to stare at his wedding band. "I want to. You have no idea how much I wanna see'em. How much I want to meet my only grandchild." He paused for a moment. "But I can't. Not yet." He looked at her. "Not until I know the truth."


	16. Chapter 16

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 16

After finishing up a hunt in an abandoned asylum, the Winchesters slept, resting in a motel room. Sam slept in his own bed, of course while Dean and Sarah shared one. Sarah slept hanging halfway off the bed on the side towards the nightstand in between both of them. Her arm hung down as she slept on her stomach, her father's arm around her, protectively.

When the sun was starting to rise, peeking through the blinds of the windows, Dean's cellphone rang from the nightstand. Sarah was the first to hear it. "Dad," she said, half asleep still. "Dad, your phone." Dean did not wake up. Neither did Sam. "Dad," she said, a little louder. Sarah lifted her head to look at her father and shook his shoulder. Dean just turned over in his sleep and continued snoozing away. So, Sarah just reached over and answered it for him. "Hello?"

There was a pause first before a male's voice asked, "Is this Sarah?"

Sarah sat up, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Grandpa? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," he replied.

Sarah looked back at her father's sleeping from then ran, quietly into the bathroom and shut the door, softly. "We've been looking for you, Grandpa," she told him, keeping her voice down.

"I know, sweetheart," John told her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about your father and uncle, are they okay?" he asked.

"They're just fine, Grandpa. Dad teaches me a lot." Sarah smiled, proudly.

John sighed, quietly but Sarah still heard it.

"What's wrong?"

"I was hoping your father would have put you up for adoption or something," he told her.

Sarah looked alarmed to hear her grandfather say that. "Do you hate me?" she asked, wanting to cry. "Don't you like me?"

"You're my first grandchild, sweetheart, I love you with all my heart but I never would have wanted this life for you," he explained in a very serious tone. "I didn't even want this life for your father and uncle."

Sarah stood there, leaning against the bathroom door, not saying a word. Finally, she said, "Grandpa."

"Yeah?"

"I know you're looking for what killed Grandma and that you're getting close…I…I…"

"What, sweetheart?"

"I-I…I think I know what it is. I figured it out a long time ago when we killed a demon on a plane," she told him.

John had to smile. She sounded so smart and reminded him a lot of Sam. "Yes, Sarah, it's a demon. How did you figure it out?"

Sarah hesitated before she said, "There's a man that talks to me in my dreams. He says you've been a pain in the ass."

"Language, Sarah," he scolded his granddaughter.

"Sorry," she apologized. "He shows me visions of things like the night Grandma died, and when my aunt died, and I saw Uncle Sammy's girlfriend die, too. I have other dreams that come true. I'm scared, Grandpa. He says he has plans for me and Uncle Sammy but he won't say what they are." Sarah was crying by now.

John tried to calm his granddaughter down, "Sarah, it's okay. I will find him and take of him, I promise."

"Let my dad and Uncle Sammy help."

"No, it's too dangerous. Look, I need to give your father a list of names. Can you write yet?"

Sarah wiped away her tears on her left arm and sniffed back more. "I'm almost eight, Grandpa, of course I can write."

"Hey," he grinned. His granddaughter was so much like her father at that age. "Don't be a smartass."

She grinned, too.

"Take down these names, okay? I'll help you spell them."

Sarah turned around and opened the door. She went into her duffel bag and pulled out a blue-covered spiral notebook. Sarah took a pen from the inside cover and flipped to a blank page. "Okay, I'm ready."

While John helped her with the names, Sam stirred from his bed. He lifted his head from his pillow and looked over at his niece still trying to wake up. "Sarah?" Sam noticed she was on the phone. "Who are you talking to?"

Sarah looked back over her shoulder and turned forward again, quick. "Uncle Sammy's awake."

"Okay, take down this last couple of names and then hang up. And Sarah," John told her.

"Yeah?"

"Tell your father and uncle they need to stop looking for me, understand?"

"Okay, Grandpa…damn it!" Sarah caught her mistake but it was too late, Sam already heard.

"Is that our dad, Sarah?" he asked of her.

John quickly gave his granddaughter the last names, spelling it out. Luckily, Sarah was a fast writer. It still looked like it was written by a seven-year-old, though. By the time, Sam got over to his niece and grabbed the phone from her, John had already hung up.

Sam was pissed. "Why didn't you give us the phone, Sarah Lynn?" he demanded of his niece.

Sarah looked up at her uncle. This was the first time he had ever raised his voice to her. It was Dean who usually reprimanded Sarah. She backed away, slowly. "I-I…I don't know. I heard it was Grandpa and I just ran to the bathroom. I-I h-had to tell him what I knew."

"And what did you have to tell him that was more important than giving one of us the phone?" Sam's voice was rising more and more as his frustrations was getting the best of him. He didn't mean to raise his voice to his niece and terrify the poor girl but they had been looking for John for six months now and they haven't even come close yet. Now, John finally calls and they miss him.

Sarah stayed silent, staring at the floor as she rubbed at her upper arms.

"If one of our phones rings and we don't hear it, you wake us up. Got it?" he told her, sternly.

She dared a look at her uncle. "I tr-tried to wake Dad but he wouldn't wake up. I'm sorry, Uncle Sam," Sarah tried to explain.

"Then you wake me up, Sarah. You don't go and answer it yourself."

"But Dad said I could, if he can't."

The commotion eventually woke up Dean. He sat up, rubbing his eye with the bottom part of his palm as he leaned on the other hand. "What's going on?"

Sam looked over at his brother. "Dad called."

That woke Dean up, fully. "What? When?"

"Just now on your phone, but Sarah didn't wake any of us up and he hung up before I could get to it in time," he explained.

Sarah hurried over and climbed onto the bed, crawling over to her father and buried her face into his chest. "I'm sorry, Daddy! I'm sorry!" she cried, her words muffled a little and soaking Dean's shirt with tears. "I did try to wake you up but you wouldn't and it was still ringing. I didn't think to wake up Uncle Sam, I just remembered you telling me that I could answer your phone when you're not available. I really am sorry."

Dean sat there, holding his daughter's shoulders while she cried into his chest. Finally, he said in a gentle voice, "It's okay, Sarah. You're not in trouble. You did exactly what I told you to do. Settle down, okay before you lose your breath."

Sam couldn't believe it. Their father had finally contacted them after six months of being missing and Dean was acceptable with them missing the call.

Dean shifted Sarah to where she was sitting sideways in his lap. "What did your grandfather say?" he asked of her.

Sarah sniffed as more tears fell from her eyes. He reached over to the nightstand and yanked out a couple tissues from its box. Dean used them to wipe away her tears before folding them once. He then held them on Sarah's nose and told her to blow. Sarah put in all of her strength as she blew into the tissues.

"Good girl," he told her, folding them again and wiped her nose with it. "Now, can you tell me, please?"

She looked up into her father's matching eyes. "He's looking for the monster that killed Grandma. It's a demon."

Sam, who was sulking on his bed as he stared at the floor, looked up. "A demon?" he asked.

Sarah nodded at him. "Grandpa says to stop looking for him, too and to look into a list of names he gave me, in Burkittsville, Indiana."

Sam stood up and went over to the table where Sarah left her notebook and father's phone and looked at the list. Dean stayed where he was sitting, still comforting her.

He rubbed her upper arm. "Is that all you talked about?"

"I told him something to help him," she replied, her head against the left side of his chest.

"What did you tell him?"

She didn't answer right away. "About the demon, that I talked to him in my dreams and that it's onto him."

Dean smiled down at his daughter, "Oh, so you were just warning him."

She nodded then looked up at him. "Grandpa loves me. He hasn't met me yet and he loves me."

"Of course, why wouldn't he?"

Sarah just shrugged.

Sam was on his computer now, researching the list of names John gave. "Sarah, for someone who is very smart for her age, you need to work on your penmanship," he smiled over at her.

Dean looked up at his brother. "She's seven, Sam. Of course her handwriting isn't gonna be neat."

"I know, Dean I was just telling her. I wasn't even being serious, I was messing with her," he explained.

"Dad," said Sarah.

Dean looked down at her. "What, baby girl?"

"Is it June yet?" she asked.

"No, it's April," he replied. "Why, what's in June?"

"My birthday."

Dean raised his eyebrows when he heard that. "Your birthday, huh?"

She nodded.

"So, my little girl's gonna be eight years old. Wow, you're an old woman!" he teased her.

Sarah couldn't help smile. "No I'm not."

"Are you sure?" he asked. "Eight's pretty old."

"Then you're really old, Dad," she teased him back.

"Me, nah. I'm not old. Ladies still love me."

"If you're older than I am then you are," Sarah said.

"Okay, I guess you're not that old, then," Dean gave in, smirking at her.

Sarah got up, onto her legs and tackled her father, knocking him back. Dean grabbed her around the waist and pinned her to the bed to tickle her. Sam watched out of the corner of his eye and shook his head. He or Dean wouldn't have gotten off that easily if one of them answered their father's phone at her age.

Once Sam had finished researching, including looking up the phone number John had called from, they got dressed and hit the road.

"So, the names Dad gave us," Sam was saying as he drove this time. "They're all couples that have disappeared over the last few years. All from different towns and states."

"All took a roadtrip cross country," Dean continued, "never to be seen again. Or heard from."

"Same route took them to a small town in Indiana."

Sarah was leaning over the front seat, looking over her father's shoulder.

"Always on the second week of April," said Dean, looking over at Sam.

"Why?" Sarah asked, from her folded arms.

"Don't know, that's what we're gonna find out, baby girl," he told her.

Sam took a deep breath, "So Dad is sending us to Indiana to go hunting for something before another couple vanishes?" he questioned.

"Isn't that the whole point of our job?" Sarah asked of her uncle.

"Yahtzee," said Dean to both questions. "Can you imagine putting together a pattern like this? I mean, the different obits Dad had to go through? The man's a master."

"Like dad, like son," Sarah smiled.

Dean looked up at her. "Trust me, kid, I am nowhere near as good as your grandfather."

She shrugged, "I think you are."

He kissed the side of her head before returning to the paperwork in his hands. Sarah's notebook was underneath everything, folded open to the list of names.

"Dad, just look at that page, okay?" she told him when she noticed they still had it.

"Why, you have a page in here with your boyfriend's name written all over it?" he asked her.

"No, but I use that notebook as my journal like Grandpa has."

"I won't read it, I promise. Can't say much for your uncle though." Dean grinned over at his brother.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Dean, I was nine years old," he reminded him. "Sarah, I won't read your journal either," he assured his niece.

"I trust both of you," she told them.

"So, guess our next stop is in Burkittsville, Indiana," Dean changed the subject back to the hunt they were starting.

"No," said Sam out of nowhere.

Dean looked over at his brother, again. "No, what do you mean no?"

Sam pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. "I mean no. We're not going to Indiana. We're going to California."

"What's in California?" Sarah asked.

"Dad called from a payphone in the Sacramento area," he told Dean.

Dean moaned at his brother's stubbornness, "Sam."

"Dean, if this demon killed Mom and Jess, and Dad's closing in, we gotta be there."

"But Grandpa said to stop looking for him, remember," Sarah reminded her uncle. "He says it's too dangerous for us."

"Maybe for you, Sarah but not us," he said. "We can handle it."

"He's given us an order, Sam," said Dean.

"I don't care. We don't always have to do what Dad says."

"What a good role model thing to say in front of your niece, Sam," he told him, sarcastically. "Dad is asking us to work jobs, to save lives."

Sam shrugged, "All right, I understand, believe me. But, I'm talking one week here. To…to find answers. To get revenge."

"All right, look I know how you feel."

"Do you?" He scoffed, "How old were you when Mom died? Four? Jess died six months ago."

Sarah shrugged this time, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Stay out of this, Sarah," Sam told her.

"Why," Dean asked, "because she makes valid points every time you try and argue with me? If Dad tells us to stay away, we stay away."

Sam just shook his head. "I just don't understand the blind faith you have in the man. I mean, it's like you don't even question him."

"Yeah, it's called being a good son."

Sam opened his door and stormed from the car. Dean rolled his eyes and followed, telling Sarah to stay in the car. He walked back to the trunk where Sam was getting his stuff.

"You're a selfish bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want, don't care what anybody thinks."

"That's what you really think?" Sam asked of him, his backpack on his back.

"Yes it is."

He scoffed, getting the rest of his stuff. "Well, this selfish bastard is going to California." Sam turned and walked away.

"Come on, you're not serious," said Dean.

"I am serious," he called as Sam continued walking.

"It's the middle of the night!"

Sam ignored his brother.

"Hey, I'm taking off!" Dean called after him. "I will leave your ass, you hear me!"

Sam stopped and turned around. He shrugged, "That's what I want you to do!"

The brothers stared at each other for a brief moment before Dean said good-bye and closed the trunk. He walked to the driver's side, putting his hand on the doorknob, looking back one last time. Sarah tried opening her door but Dean immediately shut it and thrusts open his door, getting in the car. He started the engine and drove down the road, not looking back. Sam's figure grew smaller and smaller as Sarah watched from the back window.


	17. Chapter 17

**Family is Where the Heart is **

Chapter 17

In the early morning hours right before the sun awoke, Dean drove on the highway, nearing Burkittsville, Indiana. Sarah had been staring out the window for quite a while now. The car was silent except for its engine and Sarah's PSP, playing hers and Dean's music, lying on the seat between them.

Finally, Dean spoke. "Sam's gonna be okay."

Sarah continued to stare out the window.

He looked over at her. "Your uncle's just a little hardheaded and stubborn, always been that way since we were kids." Dean kept his focus on the road, as well, switching back and forth. "Maybe he'll come crawling back, maybe he won't. You can't let it eat at you, Sarah especially since we have another job coming up soon."

Her eyes stayed at the window. "Why didn't you let me get out? I could have tried to talk Uncle Sammy into staying with us."

"No you couldn't, Sarah. Did you not hear me? When that kid sets his mind on something, there is no changing his mind. Trust me, the night Sam left for college, our dad and I tried everything to get him to stay but he wouldn't have it any other way."

There was a moment when no one spoke again as a Metallica song played. Dean started singing along as he drove, drumming his thumbs on the steering wheel.

Once the two of them arrived in Burkittsville, they asked around the small town. Dean thought about calling Sam to see where he was and to check on him, but decided not to. He and Sarah stopped in at a local car garage and asked if they saw a couple who had just gotten married when they disappeared. Dean passed them off as friends he was looking for.

The owners, a man and woman, also married looked at the flyers Dean had of the young couple and stated they never saw them before. That is, until a young girl possibly around Sam's age came downstairs, carrying a few boxes stacked on top of each other. She asked if the guy had a tattoo and got a look at the flyer herself.

The man changed his mind, stating he did remember them and pointed Dean and Sarah in the direction of an apple orchard. Dean and Sarah thanked them and headed out to where Dean parked the Impala. Driving out to the apple orchard, the EMF reader started going off from the back seat.

Dean looked back over his right shoulder, "What the hell?" He tried to reach back into his duffel bag while trying to watch the road. "Sarah, reach back and see if you can find it."

Sarah stood up, onto her knees and leaned over the back of the front seat. "Ew, Dad," she said when she realized where the EMF reader was. "Do I really have to look through your duffel bag?"

"They're clean, Sarah," he told her, "Can you just do it, please?"

Sarah hesitated, not looking forward to going through her father's clothes, clean or not.

"Hurry up, Sarah."

Sarah reached into his duffel bag, while looking away as she dug for the EMF reader. The EMF was buzzing louder and louder as she moved her hand around, squirming and moaning when she thought she had touched her father's underwear.

Dean finally pulled over to the side of the road, "For Pete's sake, Sarah." He turned around and dug for it himself. Sarah pulled her hand back, sitting back on her legs. "After the many things we've seen and touched, and you squirm going through my clothes?"

"Dad…" she tried to explain.

"Save it, I don't want to hear any excuses." Dean finally found it and looked at it. The meter was going all the way to the right, in the red. He looked around. "Okay, that's weird."

"What's weird?" she asked.

Dean opened his door, "Come on, we're defiantly checking out this orchard." He stepped out of the car, followed by Sarah. They both wandered into the apple orchard, looking around. Sarah stayed as close to her father as she could.

"Do you think they'd mind if I take one?" she asked Dean.

He shrugged, "I don't think they'll miss one." He stopped and reached into a crate of apples left behind and handed it to her before picking one out for himself.

Sarah breathed on it, wiping it on her sweatshirt before taking a bite. "Wow, this is the best apple I ever had," she stated, chewing.

"It's a little too good," Dean stared at where he had taken a bite. "Almost like it was perfect."

"There's no such thing as perfect, Dad."

Dean looked around, ahead of him. "Exactly my point." He started walking again until they came to a scary-looking scarecrow, staring up at it. "Dude, you're fugly."

"What does that mean?" asked Sarah.

He looked at her, and then went over to move a ladder in front of the scarecrow. "Another word I don't want you repeating. It's basically short for fucking ugly."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you just say that?"

Dean looked back over at her, his right foot on the bottom step. "Must you question everything?"

Sarah just shrugged and watched as her father climbed up the tall ladder, getting eye-level with the scarecrow. She moved forward to hold the ladder still for him. "Please be careful, Dad," Sarah called up him. Sarah bit her lip when Dean let go to take out the flyers. "What is it?"

"The scarecrow's tattoo matches the guy's tattoo," he called back down.

"What does it mean?"

Dean climbed down the ladder and put the flyers away in his pocket again. "It means, I think we found where everyone disappears."

Dean drove back into town, stopping at a gas pump where the young girl from before was standing beside it. He shut off the engine, and he and Sarah got out, walking towards the trunk.

"You're back," the girl greeted them.

Dean shrugged, "We never left."

"You still looking for your friends?"

He leaned on the trunk, on his left hand. "Mind filling it up there, uh, Emily?" he asked, barely remembering her name.

She nodded, smiling and grabbed the gas pump, sticking it inside the gas tank, in the back of the Impala.

"My mom was named Emily," Sarah told her, without thinking.

Emily looked up at Sarah before standing up. "Was?" she asked, sincerely.

"She died almost eight months ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that, sweetie."

Sarah shrugged, "It's okay, I guess. I have my dad and hopefully my uncle Sammy."

Dean forced a smile. He couldn't help but think of the hurt his kid was going through at the moment and how much it pained her having Sam gone. Dean hoped Sam would change his mind and would call and say he wanted back in with him and Sarah. Sarah had become very close to her uncle. Not as much as her father but close enough to miss him if he ever left.

"So, you grew up here?" he asked Emily, changing the subject.

"Came here when I was thirteen," she replied. "I lost my parents. Car accident. My aunt and uncle took me in."

"My gram and papa took me in until my dad found me," Sarah said.

Dean shrugged, "Well, they're nice people," he told Emily, both adults ignoring Sarah's comment.

"Everybody's nice here," said Emily.

"So, what, it's the, uh, perfect little town?"

She shrugged again. "You know, it's the boonies, but I love it."

"What's the boonies?" asked Sarah.

"Country town," Dean told her.

"Towns around us, people are losing their homes, their farms. But here, it's almost like we're blessed," Emily went on to explain.

Dean smiled and stared ahead before he asked, "Hey, you been out to the orchard? Seen that…That scarecrow?"

She exhaled, sharply. "Yeah, it creeps me out."

Dean chuckled, "Whose is it?"

Emily shrugged, "I don't know. It's just always been there."

He noticed the red truck over in the driveway. "That your aunt and uncle's?"

She looked back. "Customer. Had some car troubles."

"Is it a couple?" Sarah asked her.

Emily nodded down at the little girl, "Mm-hm."

Sarah exchanged looks with her father before they headed over to Scotty's Diner to have a chat with the truck's owners. Dean ordered a coffee for him and chocolate milk for Sarah and two pieces of the town's famous apple pie. When he heard the couple's truck was gonna be ready at sundown, Dean offered to look at it himself, telling them he could have it running in an hour.

The couple declined, and Dean and Sarah were escorted out of town by the sheriff.

"Now what, Dad?" Sarah asked him.

Dean let out a sigh. "I don't know, baby girl. Guess maybe check to see if there are any libraries or colleges around to find out what is up with this town." He held the steering wheel in one hand.

"It's almost sundown, though," she pointed out. "Maybe we should wait by the orchard and keep that couple from disappearing, too."

"Yeah, that probably would be the smartest move, right now." Dean grinned at his daughter and ruffled her hair.

That night, they hid in the orchard and waited until they caught wind of the couple from the diner. Both of them had their shotguns with them. Screams were heard in the distance and the two of them ran in that direction, running into the couple.

"Get back to your car!" Dean told the couple. They looked back to see the scarecrow alive and coming around the corner. "Go! Go!" The couple took off running, around him and Sarah.

Dean and Sarah then cocked their shotguns and aimed at the scarecrow which didn't stop it in its tracks.

"Sarah, let's go!" he told his daughter before they took off after the couple, shooting back at the scarecrow some more. Sarah was still a beginner, sort of at sprinting and shooting at the same time and tripped over her own feet. Dean stopped in his tracks and hurried back to help her up, shooting at it when the scarecrow was a few feet away. It stopped it for a brief moment, letting Dean and Sarah get ahead again.

They made it to the couple's car and turned around, shielding the couple with their shotguns raised.

"What?" the man panted. "What…? What the hell was that?"

"Don't ask," replied Dean, facing forward.

Once they knew they were safe, Dean fixed the couple's car for real this time and sent them on their way. While he worked on the car, Sarah had climbed into the backseat and dug into her duffel bag until she found an old book she found at a yard sale in her grandparents' neighborhood. Quickly flipping through the pages, she scanned the book until she came across a picture of a scarecrow.

When the couple was gone, Dean got in the front seat, shutting his door. "What ya up to back there?" he asked, curiously.

Sarah set the book on the front seat and climbed over the back of it before turning it around to show her father. "I didn't remember it until tonight but I think it has to do with pagan rituals, that scarecrow."

"What makes you say that?"

She pointed to the page, reading it up-side down. "Vanir, a norse god that is known for protection and pro-spere-ity and keeps settlements, it says from harm."

Dean studied the picture and the page she was reading. "Some practiced human sacrifices, one male and one female." Soon, everything was making sense now. "Where did you get this?" he asked of her.

"Besides trading cards and action figures and cars, I started collecting old lore books I find at yard sales and book stores." Sarah pointed at the book, her finger at the top of the page with words. "This I found at my gram and papa's neighbor's yard sale for ten bucks."

"And your grandparents let you buy it?"

She grinned up at him, "With my puppy-dog look, no one can say no to me."

"You think so, huh?" he smirked.

"Yup," Sarah replied.

"You _are_ exactly like your uncle," he told her.

Dean and Sarah slept there for the night, inside the Impala with the doors locked. The next morning, Dean was awakened by his cellphone. It was Sam. Dean explained what it was and told him what they had found in Sarah's book.

"The scarecrow climbed off its cross?" Sam was asking.

"I'm telling you, Burkittsville, Indiana. Fun town," Dean said, sarcastically.

"It didn't kill the couple, did it?"

"No. I can cope without you, you know," he said.

"So, something must be animating it," Sam said. "Like a spirit."

"No, it's more than a spirit. It's a god. A pagan god, anyway."

"What makes you say that?"

"The annual cycle of its killings and the victims are always a man and a woman like some kind of fertility rite," Dean explained. "And you should see the locals, the way they treated this couple. Fattening them up like a Christmas turkey."

Sam nodded, "The last meal, given to sacrificial victims."

Sarah stirred, half asleep, lifting her head from her father's right leg. Dean switched ears and rubbed her upper, right arm, caringly. "Yeah, I'm thinking a ritual sacrifice to appease some pagan god."

"So a god processes a scarecrow," Sam figured out.

"And the scarecrow takes its sacrifice," Dean finished. "And for another year, the crops won't wilt and disease won't spread."

"Do you know which god you're dealing with?"

"Yeah, Vanir, a norse god," he explained. "Sarah has this old book on this stuff and matches what we're dealing with. We just have to find this really old tree and burn it to the ground." Dean grinned, "It looks like I have a new geek kid to do research for me."

Sam had to smile at that then frowned. "How's she doing?"

Dean looked over at his daughter who was sitting up now and still trying to wake up, rubbing at her eyes, and then looked down. "She really misses you."

"She does?"

"Yeah, and I want you to know…" Dean paused for a moment. "I mean, don't think…"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, too," Sam finished, knowing exactly what his brother was trying to say.

Dean swallowed a lump in his throat. "Sam…you were right."

Sarah looked over at her father when she heard her uncle's name. "That's Uncle Sammy? Is he coming back?"

He shushed her with his hand as he told Sam, "You gotta do your own thing. You gotta live your own life."

"You serious?" asked Sam.

"You've always known what you want," he continued. "And you go after it. You stand up to Dad, and you always have. Hell, I wish I…" Dean tried to fight back some tears coming as Sarah watched him, sitting on her left foot now. "Anyway…I admire that about you. I'm proud of you, Sammy."

Sam shook his head, blown away by his brother's words, "I don't even know what to say."

"Say you take care of yourself," he told him.

"I will. What about Sarah?"

"She'll be fine," Dean said. "Call me when you find Dad."

"Okay. Bye, Dean."

Dean closed his cellphone, hanging up on his brother.

Sarah continued to watch him. "Why couldn't I talk to him?" she asked, disappointed.

He didn't answer. Instead, Dean stepped out of the car to get some fresh air. Sarah leaned back, against the seat, picking her foot up, towards her, her knee sticking up. She rested her arms across her stomach and stared off into space as she thought about her uncle, her father, and everything else that had happened in the last several months.

After half an hour, she heard something as if someone was whacked over the head with a shovel. Sarah looked up to see her father nowhere in sight. Getting out of the car, she looked around. "Dad?" Sarah yelled out. "Dad, where are you? Dad!"

Suddenly, someone came up behind her and whacked her over the head with a shovel. Everything went black.


	18. Chapter 18

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 18

Sarah awoke in a bed, in what seemed like a log cabin. She looked around the room and groaned when she realized where she was. There was a tall dresser across the room with a mirror but nothing else. The bed was the bottom part of a bunk bed one would find at camp. Sarah had been there plenty times before.

"Hello, Sarah," a male's voice spoke up from on top of the dresser. "It's been a while since we last chatted."

Sarah glared over at the man with yellow eyes. "And I was enjoying every minute of it, too."

The man jumped down and walked over to stand at the foot of the bed. "I heard you told your grandfather I knew he was after me. Not a wise decision was it."

Sarah looked alarmed. "Why? What did you do to him?"

He shrugged, "Nothing…yet." The yellow-eyed man sneered an evil grin at her which made the hairs on the back of her neck raise. He walked away from the bed, turning back to face Sarah. "So, our Sammy ran away to go after your grandfather." The yellow-eyed man laughed.

"What's so funny?" Sarah demanded of him. "I miss my uncle."

"What's funny is, I'm not there anymore. I can't stay in one place for long, I have stuff to do. Young soldiers to round up."

Sarah tried to stand up but was thrown back, onto the bed, on her back.

"Now, now. Don't want to do that," he told her.

"Why are you doing this?" Sarah demanded of the yellow-eyed man. "Why are me and Uncle Sam special?" She tried to struggle to her feet but it felt like she was pinned to the bed, some invisible force keeping her down.

The yellow-eyed man walked over and lowered his face, inches from hers. Sarah's nose wrinkled. "Your breath smells like kitty litter and not the fresh kind either. The kind after the cat uses it."

"You're in no position to make snide remarks," he told her. "If you must know, I need the strongest of you special children, to do something for me."

Sarah was trying to fight her fear but having him that close and staring into his yellow eyes and listening to him wasn't helping any. "B-but what could I do?" The fear was very apparent in her voice as Sarah felt tears start to fill in her eyes.

"I normally wait until each kid is at least sixteen but you…" The yellow-eyed man pulled back but continued to stand beside the bed. "When I saw you, two years ago, Sarah Winchester, I knew you were the most special of them all. Maybe more than your uncle Sammy and he's…He's something." He was grinning as he nodded at the wall above the head of the bed.

Sarah looked at him, trying to lift her head. "Only my dad and I can call him, Sammy," she told him.

He just chuckled, coldly. "Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. Keep up the nice work, kid 'cause the time will come when the real fun begins."

Suddenly, the lights went out and the room was pitched black. Sarah sat up, quickly. She wasn't in the room anymore. Looking around, it looked like she was in a cellar. Dean was shoving his body against the cellar doors.

He stopped and looked back when his daughter bolted awake. "You okay, Sarah?"

Sarah touched the back of her head where it still kind of hurt, trying to get her thoughts together.

"You were out for a long time. I was starting to get worried there."

Sarah looked up at her father and jumped up to her feet, running up the steps to her father. She wrapped him in a hug.

Dean grew concerned as he felt her grip tighten on him. "Baby girl, what's wrong? It's okay, we'll get out of this, I promise. I've been in worse cases than this."

She didn't respond. Sarah just kept holding on to him. The cellar doors opened behind him, letting in the afternoon gloomy light.

Scotty and Emily's aunt and uncle were standing there. Scotty was holding a shotgun rifle down to Dean and Sarah. "It's time," Emily's aunt stated.

Dean and Sarah looked up at them. The men tied the two of them up and loaded them up in Emily's uncle's truck. Out in the orchard, he and Scotty tied them each to a couple of trees. The sheriff was there, as well.

"So, how many have you killed, Sheriff?" Dean was asking him as he tied Dean's arms above his head. "How much blood is on your hands?"

The sheriff stared down at him when he was done. "We don't kill them."

"No, but you sure cover up after. I mean, how many cars have you hidden, clothes have you buried?"

Emily was there, too. It was apparent to Dean and Sarah that she had no clue of any of the town's rituals. She looked between them. "Why are you doing this? For God's sake, she's a child," Emily asked her aunt and uncle.

"It's the last night of the cycle and we need a male and female," her aunt explained to her. "We don't want to do this either but we have no choice."

"She's my daughter, you know," Dean yelled over to her. "Not my girlfriend or wife. How will that work?"

"You're a man and she's the closest to a woman we have besides our niece. If your daughter wasn't here, we would have no other choice but to sacrifice her and we are relieved to know that isn't the case."

Emily stared over at her aunt, in disbelief. "You would do that to your own family?"

"We don't, though. We have her." Her aunt nodded over at Sarah, who was struggling against her binds.

_Great!_ Sarah thought. _I was just binded before I woke up, now I really am. That's just…great. _She looked up at them. "Don't do this, let us go," Sarah pleaded with them. "Life isn't perfect. You can't expect to not have hard times. It's a part of life, that's what my papa said once. He got where he is today from all the hard work he did. So, why go through all this trouble of feeding a scarecrow?" Her pleas were falling onto deaf ears as they stared at her.

"It's all for the greater good," Emily's aunt told her, calmly.

"Give it up, Sarah," Dean called over his right shoulder. "They won't listen. They're just a bunch of dicks." He was staring up at the sheriff when he said the last part. Dean watched as they walked away. "Hope your apple pie is freaking worth it!"

Dean heard Sarah sniff back some tears. "So, what's the plan?" he heard her ask.

"I'm working on it," he told her.

Soon, it got dark and cold out as crickets chirped. Sarah tried shifting where she was sitting. After sitting on the hard ground for a couple hours, it felt like she couldn't feel her bottom. "Dad, you don't have a plan, do you?"

"I'm working on it," Dean replied.

"It's been forever, Dad and my butt and arms are numb, and I'm not sure but I think I need to pee."

He threw back his head, against the tree. _Of course! _He thought to himself. "Can you see the scarecrow moving yet?"

Sarah tried to look back, over her left shoulder around her arm but she couldn't see anything. She could hear movement though. "No, but I hear it." Sarah's heart started racing until she heard a familiar voice.

"Dean? Sarah?"

Sarah's heart settled down when none other than Sam appeared. "Uncle Sammy!" she replied, happy and relieved to see her uncle.

Dean was relieved, too. "Oh, I take everything back I said. I'm so happy to see you," he said as Sam cut Sarah loose first then hurried over to him and cut Dean loose. "How'd you get here?"

"I, uh," Sam said cutting through the binds, "I stole a car."

He laughed, "That's my boy! Keep an eye on that scarecrow."

"Dad, Uncle Sam! The scarecrow's gone."

Dean stood up, fast, taking a look for himself. "Crap," he said. "Come on, you two." The Winchesters took off at a run.

"Now, this sacred tree you mentioned before," Sam panted as he ran. "Did you find it yet?"

"No, not yet," replied. Dean. "But we will in the morning. Right now, let's just shag ass before Leatherface catches up."

Suddenly, the sound of shotguns cocking was heard and flashlights shined in their direction. The three of them looked around and saw they were surrounded. Emily stepped in the center, joining the Winchesters.

"Please just let them go," she pleaded with the townspeople as eerie groans were heard.

"It'll be over quickly," her uncle told her. "I promise."

"Please," she continued. "It's wrong."

"Emily, we have to let it take them. We have to…" Suddenly, the scarecrow came up from behind him and slashed her uncle with its small sickle. It grabbed Emily's aunt and his body and carried it away into the shadows as her aunt's screams echoed through the orchard.

Emily screamed, too at the sight and turned to Dean for comfort. Sarah wanted to go after the scarecrow but Sam pulled her back.

"We have to do something, Uncle Sam," Sarah told her uncle.

"There's nothing we can do, Sarah," he said, holding her back. "We can't save them all."

Sarah stopped struggling and laid her head against his leg. She felt everyone they try to protect should be saved. Sarah didn't want anyone to die. Sam rubbed the side of her head.

The townspeople had taken off like the cowards they were where the scarecrow had showed up. Dean hurried Sam, Sarah, and Emily over to the road and stopped, looking back. They heard the eerie sounds once more than there was nothing.

The next morning, the Winchesters and Emily returned with a red, plastic gas can. Emily showed them where the tree was and Sam poured the gasoline all over it. Dean picked up a long stick and took his lighter out of his pocket.

"Can I light it, Dad?" Sarah asked, wanting to do a part, too.

"Sure, but be careful," he told her, holding the lighter out to her.

Sarah took the lighter and flicked it on while having some trouble at first. The lighter didn't want to light. Dean guessed it was almost out. When it did light, she held the lighter under where he showed her to light it. Emily was the one to throw it on the tree, though, not caring if her town would die afterwards. They watched as the old tree burned up.

Sam and Dean exchanged looks between each other.

"Hey, all that's missing is some marshmallows," Sarah laughed, ruining the moment.

Dean couldn't help but crack a smile at his daughter. He wrapped his right arm around her head, pulling Sarah against him as they continued to watch the tree burn.

They gave Emily a ride to the bus stop where Dean and Sarah waved good-bye.

"Think she's gonna be all right?" Sam asked, looking over at his brother.

Dean shrugged, "I hope so."

"Me, too," Sarah agreed, looking up at the men.

"And the rest of the townspeople, they'll just get away with it?"

"What will happen to the town," said Dean, "will have to be punishment enough." They started heading over to where Dean parked the Impala.

Sarah looked up at her uncle. "Does this mean you're staying with us?" she asked of him.

Sam smiled down at his niece. "Yeah, I think you two are pretty much stuck with me."

That brightened the little girl's face. She hugged his legs to her, tightly.

Dean looked back at his younger brother, surprised. "What made you change your mind?"

Sam looked up from his niece. "I didn't," he replied. "I still wanna find Dad and you're still a pain in the ass."

Dean just shrugged, smiling.

"But Jess and Mom, they're both gone. Dad is God knows where. You and me, and Sarah, we're all that's left," Sam shrugged, making Sarah look up as she still kept her arms around his legs. He glanced down at the ground, then said, "So, uh, if we're gonna see this through…we're gonna do it together."

Sarah smiled up at her uncle, her chin resting on his leg.

There was a moment of silence before Dean ruined the sentimental moment with his quirky remarks. "Hold me, Sam," he told his brother. That was beautiful." Dean placed his hand on Sam's right shoulder but Sam knocked it away, smiling. Dean walked over to his side of the Impala as Sarah let go.

"You should be kissing my ass," Sam called after him. "You both were dead meat, dude."

"Yeah right, I had a plan," he replied. "We'd had gotten out."

"I still think you didn't," Sarah said from Sam's side of the Impala before running over to climb into the backseat.

"You hush, Sarah," Dean teased as he got in and shut his door.

Sam was the last one to get in the Impala before the family drove off, out of town and on to what was in store for them next.


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry for the long wait, I've been busy the last week. Hopefully it won't be another week before chapter twenty is out.**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 19

The Winchesters were on yet another hunt. This time they were after a Rawhead that had taken a couple children and the only way to kill it was using electricity. They hurried inside the old, abandoned house, down to the basement where they found the children inside a cupboard, scared to death. Sam hurried them up the stairs where something had grabbed his ankle, yanking him down. When he managed to stand, Sam tossed Dean his taser gun since Dean already used his and quickly got the children out.

Sarah helped with the children, too but ran back inside just as the Rawhead was closing in on Dean as he tried to hurry to where he had dropped the gun. Thinking fast, Sarah shot hers at it. The Rawhead was electrocuted to a crisp, killing it. Unfortunately, the Rawhead and Dean were both inside a puddle of water and if watching _Pokémon _has taught her anything, it's that water conducts electricity.

Sarah dropped the gun and hurried over to her father, water splashing everywhere from her feet. She fell beside him and tried to shake Dean awake. Nothing happened. "Dad, please wake up," Sarah pleaded, trying hard not to cry. "Please don't die. Don't die, Dad. You can't die."

At that moment, Sam ran down the basement stairs. "Dean!" he said when he saw his brother, unconscious. He hurried over and tried the same thing Sarah was doing.

Once the police had arrived for the children, the officers called for an ambulance to pick up Dean. Sam had to hold his niece back as the paramedics loaded her father into the back of it before Sam followed in the Impala. Sam drove with one hand on the steering wheel as the other was wrapped around Sarah.

"It'll be okay, Sarah," he assured her. "Your dad will be fine, I promise." Sam was mostly trying to assure himself into believing Dean was going to pull through. He couldn't lose his big brother, he just couldn't. Dean had done everything for Sam, pretty much their whole lives. How could Sam live without him? He didn't even want to think about it. And poor Sarah. She had already lost her own mother. She couldn't lose her father too, especially within one year.

At the hospital, Sam did the necessary paperwork and spoke to the police, lying about why they had been there. Dean's doctor had finally come out to speak to them after waiting there all night.

"Hey, doc," Sam said, "is he…?"

"He's resting."

Sarah was hanging onto her uncle's right leg, listening as well and praying her father was okay. The last few hours had not been easy. In fact, she couldn't even sit still. Sarah paced the floor of the waiting room. It didn't help calm Sam's nerves either to watch her.

"And?" asked Sam.

"The electrocution triggered a heart attack," the doctor explained, making Sarah grip Sam's jeans tighter in her hands. "Pretty massive, I'm afraid. His heart is damaged."

"How damaged?" Sarah asked, her voice cracking, sounding like a caught mouse when a cat is after it.

"We done all we can," the doctor explained. "We can, uh, try and keep him comfortable at this point, but I give him a couple weeks at most, maybe a month."

Sarah started breathing, heavily.

"No, no," said Sam, "There's gotta be something you can do. Some kind of treatment…?"

"We can't work miracles. I really am sorry."

Sarah lost it, into her uncle's leg as she cried loudly. Some heads turned in their direction as Sam looked around at them. He reached down and picked Sarah up, into his arms and tried to comfort her. The doctor showed them to Dean's hospital room, leaving them alone.

Dean was watching TV, flipping through the channels and stating he wanted to hunt down the _Snuggie_ teddy bear before he turned his attention to his brother and daughter. He turned off the TV and dropped the remote beside him. He gestured for Sam to place Sarah beside him and took her into his arms.

Sarah cried into his chest, balling her eyes out. "I don't want you to die, Daddy!"

"Hey, look at me," he told her, in a stern tone.

Sarah shook her head, against him.

"Look at me, Sarah Lynn," Dean said, his voice louder a tad bit.

She slowly looked up at her father, sniffing loudly.

"It's a dangerous gig, it was bound to happen sooner or later," he explained to her. "It'll be okay, though. Sam will take good care of you and my car, and if he doesn't I will haunt his ass."

Sam shook his head, listening as well. "I don't think that's funny."

Dean looked up at his brother, "Come on, it's a little funny."

Sarah sniffed, "It's not, Dad."

"You two have no sense of humor," he told Sarah and Sam both. "But, anyway Sarah, I want you to be strong for me. Okay? Be the big girl I know you are."

She shook her head, fast. "No, I don't want to be a big girl anymore. I want you, Daddy."

This was Sam's first time seeing the seven-year-old in her since the other time, he was more focused on his lower half being in pain. It pained him to have to see his niece like this. It hurt to lose his big brother, but to see a small child lose her father. He wasn't going to let it happen. Not on his watch, anyway. "Trust me, Sar," he spoke up, "I'm gonna find a way to save your dad."

Dean shook his head. "Don't get her hopes up, like that, Sam. I'm gonna die and there's nothing you can do."

"Watch me."

Sam checked into a motel, nearby and got to work on calling every contact in John's journal, trying to see if anyone knew what to do about Dean's situation. Sarah wanted to stay with her father, at the hospital and spend every lasting second with him but Dean had insisted she'd go with Sam.

Dean lied there, staring off into space as he thought of his daughter and brother. He was leaving them to fend for themselves. No longer would he be there to protect them. Sure Dean trusted Sam to watch out for Sarah but who was going to watch out for Sam? John was God knows where, hunting down that demon.

He closed his eyes as tears leaked from them, sideways. He saw his little girl, clear in his mind, smiling that crooked grin they both shared. His already pained heart ached more as he thought about her, about how Sarah would deal with losing him. She pretty much worshipped the ground he walked on. If Dean didn't know better, he swore he was her hero. Sarah was always trying to copy his moves during a hunt, doing exactly what he did. The way he held his gun, the steps he took; everything.

Dean opened his eyes as his tears blurred his vision. "Oh, baby girl, Sammy," he thought out loud to himself. "I love you both. I can't…why did this have to happen? I can't leave you, not yet. It my job to keep you both safe. You're my responsibility." Dean ran his hands along his face and through his hair.

After some time, he realized he needed to spend every second left with them and pushed himself out of the bed, and quickly got dressed.

Sam was leaving his father a message. "Hey, Dad," he said into his cellphone. "It's Sam. Uh…"

"Answer the phone!" Sarah yelled from beside him.

Sam jerked back in utter surprise. "Sarah, please." He returned to the phone call and finished leaving his father the message as Sarah returned her headphones to her ears, listening to Carrie Underwood this time. Classic rock wasn't her only favorite music. Sarah also liked her music, as well. Emily was into all kinds of country music, but was only able to get her daughter into one singer.

Sarah kept playing it over and over, singing along now and then. Sam tried to ignore it, but when his niece started to sing louder, he reached over and gently smacked her foot, motioning to lower the volume.

When Sam hung up, there was a knock on the door. He shook his niece's right ankle, beside him and motioned for her to be quiet before he stood up, and cautiously went over to answer it. To his surprise, Dean was standing there. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Dean hobbled in, holding onto the doorframe. "I checked myself out."

"Are you crazy?"

"Well, I'm not gonna die in a hospital when the nurses aren't even hot," he lied.

Sam scoffed, "You know this whole 'I laugh in the face of death' thing, it's crap. I can see right through it."

Dean turned away, "Yeah, whatever, dude." Sarah was right beside her father, trying to help him even when he started walking over to one of the beds. She reached up and held his arm in both hands as Dean limped on a cane. He couldn't help but notice his daughter trying so hard to be strong for him like he told her to. "Have either of you even slept? You look worse than me, especially you, Sam."

Sam helped his brother, too. "I've been scouring the internet for the last three days." They all sat down. He sat on his bed, Dean and Sarah sat on hers. The only time Sarah laid on her bed was during the day. In the middle of the night, she would get up and moved to her uncle's bed, falling asleep against him as he sat up in bed, on his computer. "Calling every contact in Dad's journal."

Dean asked, "For what?"

"For a way to help you," he replied. "One of Dad's friends, Joshua, h-he called me back. Told me about a guy in Nebraska. Specialist."

"You're not gonna let me die in peace, are ya?"

Sam grinned, "I'm not gonna let you die period. We're going." He drove them to a huge, white tent in Nebraska where a lot of people were gathering inside.

Sarah quickly got out of the backseat to try and help her father again.

"Sarah, for the last time, you're not strong enough to hold my weight," Dean told her for the umpteenth time since they left the motel. "I got it, okay?"

She stepped back, watching him step out of the car. "I just wanted to help," she said.

Dean cupped the side of her face in his left hand as he leaned against the Impala. "I know you were, baby girl," and he kissed her forehead. Dean let Sarah at least shut his door for him as he started walking. "You're a lying bastard, Sam. I thought you said we were going to see a doctor."

"I believe I said a specialist," replied Sam as he walked beside Dean. "Look Dean, this guy is supposed to be the real deal."

Dean walked, hunched over with his hands in his jacket pockets. "I can't believe you bought me to a guy who heals people out of a tent."

An older woman walked by. "Reverend La Grange is a great man."

"Yeah, that's nice," he told her, not giving a crap.

"We just want you better, Dad," Sarah smiled up at him.

They passed by a couple cops talking to someone who was protesting about the whole thing. Dean looked back at them, "I take it, he's not part of the flock."

"Well, when people see what they can't explain, there's controversy," explained Sam.

Dean looked at his brother. "Come on, Sam, a faith healer?"

"Maybe it's time to have a little faith, Dean."

"You know what I have faith in?" he asked.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"Reality," he answered. "Knowing what's really going on."

Sam scoffed, "How can you be a skeptic with the things we see every day?"

"Exactly, we see them, we know they're real."

"The wind's real and we can't see that," Sarah pointed out.

Dean turned back to his daughter. "We can feel it."

"Well…" Sarah tried to think of a comeback. "You can't see air, either."

"That's pretty much the same thing as the wind, Sarah."

"Uh…" She tried again, wanting desperately to win this argument. Nothing came to her mind, though.

Sam came to his niece's aid, "Dean, if you know evil's out there, how can you not believe good's out there?"

"Because I've see what evil does to good people," he replied.

"Maybe God works in mysterious ways." The Winchesters looked over to see a young woman with long, blond hair and carrying an umbrella standing in front of them.

"That's what my Sunday school teacher says," Sarah told the woman who smiled at her.

"Did they now," she replied.

Sarah nodded. "She taught us a lot about God."

Dean got a good look at the woman. "Maybe He does," he smiled at her in his usual flirtatious way. "I think you just turned me around on the subject."

Sarah grew excited until Sam shook his head at her. He lowered his head to whisper, "your dad's trying to flirt again" inside her ear.

"Yeah, I'm sure," the woman replied to Dean.

Dean held his hand out to her, "I'm Dean. This is Sam and Sarah."

"Hello," Sarah smiled as the woman returned the handshake.

"Hello," she smiled at the little girl. "I'm Layla. She must be yours, Dean. She looks just like you."

He smiled in return, nodding once.

"So, if you're not a believer," Layla said, changing the subject, "then why are you here?"

"Well, apparently my brother and daughter here, believes enough for the three of us."

Sam and Sarah both smiled at that.

Another woman, older this time walked up to Layla. "Come on, Layla," she said. "It's about to start."

Layla told the Winchesters, bye and walked inside the tent.

Dean watched her. "Well, I bet she can work in some mysterious ways."

Sarah looked up at her father, confused. "Huh?"

"Nothing," he said and started walking towards the tent, too.

Inside, Sam found two empty seats left, towards the front and helped his brother sit down before he sat in the other chair. "Come here, Sarah," he told his niece. "You can sit on my lap."

Sarah crossed in front of her father and allowed her uncle to pull her onto his left knee, wrapping his arms around her waist as the service started. It had been awhile since she had been in a church setting if one could call this a church. Sarah was young though and wasn't even sure what a real church looked like in the inside. She had never gone into the service with her grandparents. She always went to her Sunday school class with the other kids.

The three of them were looking around at the many people wanting to be healed. To Dean, if by some miracle all this was real, he figured they needed it more than he did. He couldn't believe Sam had dragged him there and got Sarah excited in the process and who was going to have to break the news to her when Sam's plan blew up in their faces? That's right, he was. Dean wanted to spend his last few weeks, spending time with the two of them. That's why he left the hospital in the first place. Not to spend it in a tent, listening to a guy say he can heal people when really he most likely couldn't.

The service began and a blind, middle-aged man walked out on stage wearing sunglasses. He started talking when Dean mumbled, "Or into their wallets" and the reverend heard him.

Dean apologized.

"No, no. Don't be," he said. "Just watch what you say around a blind man, we got real sharp ears."

Dean gave a small smirk.

"What's your name, son?"

He cleared his throat, "Dean."

"Dean," the reverend repeated and nodded. "I want…I want you to come up here with me."

The crowd applauded, especially Sarah.

"No…No, it's okay," Dean told him when it died down.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked in a low voice to his brother.

"Y-you…you've come here to be healed, haven't you?" the reverend asked.

"Dad, go up there," Sarah urged her father, pleadingly.

Dean hesitated, "Well, yeah but uh…maybe you should pick someone else."

"Oh, ho. No," he said, "I-I didn't…I didn't pick you, Dean, the Lord did."

Sarah slid down from her uncle's knee and inched around her father's legs, to stand in the aisle. She took ahold of his left arm that was still in his pocket and tried to pull Dean to his feet. "Come on, Dad. Please, for me?" She tried to give him her best puppy-dog face until finally Dean gave in and allowed his daughter to pull him to his feet.

Sarah walked him up to the stage before she hurried back to sit on the edge of Dean's chair, grinning from ear to ear like a kid on Christmas morning. She watched as the reverend placed his hand on her father's head, even after everyone else but Sam bowed their heads to pray. When Dean fell over, Sarah immediately jumped back up and ran to his side, climbing onto the stage.

Sam followed, too.

"Dad, are you all right?" she asked on his left side.

Dean didn't say a word. He was just staring ahead as if he saw someone vanish. Sarah and Sam didn't seem to notice the person, though.

Outside, Dean felt like his old self again. He even lifted his daughter up, into his arms and hugged her. Something didn't feel right to him, though. Something was urking at him, like something wasn't right about what just happened.

Out of nowhere, a young male's voice called out in their direction. "Hey, Sarah!"

The three of them turned to see a man around Dean's age, sitting in a wheelchair with a young woman, the same age, standing behind him.

Sarah could not believe who it was, her eyes wide in surprise.


	20. Chapter 20

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 20

Sarah could not believe who she was staring at. She hadn't seen him in over a year, not since he left for Iraq. Now, he was standing, or rather sitting there, right in front of her. Sarah ran over and jumped into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck as she called out, excitedly, "Mark!"

The young man, Mark held onto the little girl, tightly.

"I missed you so much, Mark," she told him from his shoulder.

"So did I, Sar Bear," he replied. Mark unhooked her arms and looked at her. "But what are you doing here?"

"My uncle Sam and I brought my dad here to be healed."

Mark looked at her as Dean and Sam walked up.

"Sarah, mind introducing us?" Dean asked, watching Mark like a hawk.

Sarah climbed down from her second cousin's lap and went over to stand in between her father and uncle, turning around to face Mark. "Dad, Uncle Sam, this is my cuz, Mark." She moved her head towards Mark, "Mark, this is my dad and uncle Sam."

Dean held his hand out to him. "Nice to meet you, I'm Dean," he told him. Mark never took the handshake, he just looked at it. Dean took his hand back, feeling the air get really awkward as Mark continued to stare at him. "So, um…"

"So, you know my niece," Sam finished for his brother, trying to make small talk, also feeling the awkward tension.

Mark looked at him. "Yes," he replied. "Guess you can say I taught her everything she knows."

"Not everything, now Dad teaches me stuff," Sarah spoke up, happily.

Mark looked at his second cousin. "Like what?" he asked, curious.

"I can't say, it's the family business," she told him.

He looked up at Dean, staring daggers at him, coldly.

Dean rubbed the back of his head, clearing his throat. He could tell this guy had beef with him, most likely about Sarah's mother. "Uh, Sam," he turned his head to his brother. "You mind taking Sarah to the car and waiting for me? I'll be there in a minute."

Sam nodded once, "Sure."

Sarah tried to object. "But I want to keep talking to Mark. I haven't seen him in a long time."

"I know, baby girl," Dean told her. "I will make sure you can see him again before we leave town."

She moaned as she followed her uncle to where they parked the Impala. When they were out of earshot, Dean turned back to Mark. "Want to tell me why you're giving me the stink eye?" he asked of him.

"You slept with my cousin and then left her without a good-bye, you arrogant sack of shit," Mark replied, coldly.

"Look, we all do things we regret as youngsters," Dean said in his defense.

"Yeah, the stupid ones," he scoffed. "Emily cried for days after she stopped hearing from you. And then when she finds out she's pregnant, she tries to call you one last time and you still don't pick up your phone. I told her to have an abortion and she had her heart set on it, too then she decides to keep it all of a sudden,"

Why couldn't Dean remember ever hearing about Emily being pregnant? Even if he had missed her call, he would have checked his voicemail. "Well, obviously you cared about our daughter because you were teaching her to wrestle and play football, and Sarah seems like she looked up to you," Dean shrugged at him.

"Yeah, because I'm not the kind of guy that takes it out on a kid for some jerk-off's dumbass decision."

"Okay, I get it," he said. "Yes, I screwed up and got a girl pregnant. It was a mistake that I wish I could take back, but let me tell you something, pal. That little girl back there," Dean pointed over his right shoulder with his thumb, "she is the beautiful outcome of it. The only good thing that came out of a couple one night stands."

Mark continued to stare up at him, "Yeah? Well that outcome cost my cousin her own life. Emily had to quit school just so Sarah could be clothed, fed, and have a roof above her head. Emily had to do things that she was not proud of."

Dean crossed his arms across his chest. "Yeah, like what?"

"Did Sarah ever tell you they were homeless for a month before my uncle finally managed to find them?"

Dean's arms loosen as his mouth slowly dropped open. "H-h-homeless?" He thought that over in his head. Sure, Dean, Sam, and Sarah didn't have a permanent house to live in they still had a nice warm bed to sleep in, now and then. Dean didn't even want to think about how terrified Sarah must have been during that time, if she even remembered. "I'm sorry, all right."

Mark shook his head. "Don't even apologize. Emily could have gone places, done things but she couldn't. She was tied down to motherly duties, all because of you. And what is it you're teaching her, by the way? Deuce bag 101?"

Dean leaned on the guy's wheelchair, his face inches from Mark's. "I said I was sorry. You don't know our life. You don't know what we're going through. What your own cousin is going through."

He looked away, trying not to look Dean in the eye.

Dean stood up. "Sarah has told me some things about her mother, but never had she said anything bad about you. I'm beginning to think she was lying or something. You don't seem like the role model she goes on about." With that said, Dean turned and walked away, leaving Mark sitting there to sulk. He saw Sam in the driver's seat again so Dean got in on the passenger's side, slamming his door shut.

Sam and Sarah watched him. "You okay?" Sam asked him.

He placed his elbow on the door and happened to glance up as Mark's woman friend was pushing Mark to their car. Dean looked back at Sarah. "Sarah, do you remember ever living on the streets with your mother?"

An eyebrow slowly rose as she stared back at her father. "I don't think so. Why?"

Dean turned forward and leaned his face against the back of his fingers. His nose was resting on his knuckles. Maybe she was too young to remember. Sarah could have been a toddler at the time. It hurt to hear about his daughter having to sleep out in the cold with barely any food. A tear escaped his eye. They must have seen it, too because Sam asked, "dude, are you crying?"

He quickly wiped it away. "No I'm not crying. Ugh," Dean wiped at his eyes. "My eyes have been itchy and watery since that guy healed me."

"Well, I just called the nearby hospital to see if you're completely better," he told him.

Dean moved his hand to the side of his forehead and leaned on. "I'm fine, Sam."

Sam shrugged, "I just want to make sure." He drove to the hospital where the doctors ran some tests on Dean's heart. They didn't find anything wrong with him. Nothing. It was as if Dean had never even had an electrocution to his heart.

The Winchesters learned of another man that died just yesterday to a heart attack. Dean's age, too. In fact, it strengthened Dean's bad feeling. So, he sent Sam to find any information on the guy while he and Sarah went to talk to the reverend.

"I feel great," he was telling the reverend and his wife. "Just trying to make sense of what happened. Sarah was leaning over his right knee, her arms hanging over. She loved the hunts where she could be herself and sit with her father.

The reverend's wife sat down. "A miracle is what happened.

Dean nodded at her.

"Well, miracles come so often around Roy."

He looked over at Roy. "When did they start, the miracles?"

"Woke up one morning stone blind," Roy explained. "Doctors figured out I had cancer, told me I had maybe a month. So, uh, we prayed for a miracle. I-I was weak, but I told Sue Ann, 'you just keep right on praying.' I went into a coma. Doctors said I wouldn't wake up but I did. And the cancer was gone."

Sarah looked up at him, listening.

Roy removed his sunglasses, "If it wasn't for these eyes, no one would ever believe I had it."

"So, you can't see a thing?" she asked, with a normal childhood curiosity.

He shook his head. "Not a thing."

Sarah held up four fingers on her right hand. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Roy laughed while Dean popped her on her bottom. It wasn't too hard, just enough to get his point across. Sarah didn't even flinch or yelp.

"Sarah, knock it off," he warned her.

"No, no, it's all right," Roy told him. "Kids are usually the most curious when it comes to my blindness."

"So, then you were able to heal people?" Dean asked. "Once you woke up I mean."

"I discovered it, afterwards, yes," he replied. "God's blessed me in many ways." Roy placed his sunglasses back on.

"And his flock just swelled overnight," Sue Ann added. "And this is just the beginning."

Dean looked down at Sarah, who was now trying to balance on his leg as she held her legs up. "Can I ask you one last question?" he asked.

Roy nodded at him, "Of course you can."

He licked his upper lip, "Why? Why me? Out of all the sick people, why save me?"

Sarah looked back up when she heard her father ask that. Why couldn't he just accept it? She didn't understand how he could keep questioning and arguing about being saved.

"Well, like I said before," Roy told him. "The Lord guides me. I looked into your heart and you just…" He shook his head, "stood out than all the rest."

Dean was silent for a moment before he asked, "What did you see in my heart?"

"A young man with an important purpose, a job to do. And it isn't finished."

"You mean like, being my dad?" Sarah asked, hopeful.

Roy shrugged, "Maybe. Only the Lord knows your dad's future."

Sarah looked up at her father, who was watching her. She smiled at him. Dean forced a smile for her before thanking Roy and Sue Ann for their time. He stood up and headed for the door. Sue Ann walked them out.

As Dean and Sarah were coming down the stairs, Layla was walking up to the house. "Dean. Sarah, hey," she greeted them with a smile.

The two of them stopped. "Hey," Dean returned the greeting.

"Hello, Layla," Sarah also returned.

Layla looked at Dean. "How are you feeling?" she asked him.

"I feel good, cured, I guess," he replied. "What are you doing here?"

"You know, my mom, she wanted to talk to the reverend." Layla's mother was coming up the steps towards them.

"Layla," said Sue Ann, stepping closer to them.

"Yes," Layla looked over at the older woman before walking over to her. "We're here again."

"Oh, I'm sorry, but Roy is resting. He won't be seeing anyone right now."

Her mother wasn't thrilled to here Sue Ann say that. "Sue Ann, please," she pleaded with her. "This is our sixth time. He's got to see us."

"Roy's well aware of Layla's situation, and he very much wants to help just as soon as the Lord allows. Have faith, Mrs. Rourke." Sue Ann touched her shoulder, and then went back inside.

Mrs. Rourke sadly looked at the ground and turned away. When she looked up, Dean and Sarah was standing right there in front of her. She stared at Dean, like she was trying to figure him out. "Why are you even still here?" she asked of him. "You got what you wanted."

"Mom, stop," Layla told her mother, stepping towards them.

Her mother looked at her. "No, Layla," she said. "This is too much. We've been to every single service. If Roy would stop choosing these strangers over you," Mrs. Rourke looked back at Dean, "strangers that don't even believe."

Sarah glared at her from her father's side.

"I just can't pray any harder."

Sarah eased off when Mrs. Rourke said that, remembering when she was praying for her own mother every single day, right up until Emily died. She knew when constant praying and receiving no answer was no fun. It still bugged her how her prayers for her father were answered but not for her mother. Did God hate her mother or something, she wondered.

Dean looked over at Layla. "Layla, what's wrong?"

Layla took in a deep breath and shook her head like it was nothing. "I have this thing."

He shrugged as if to ask, "and?"

Mrs. Rourke answered, "It's a brain tumor."

That shot Sarah's head up again, her attention caught.

She walked in between the three of them. "It's inoperable. In six months, the doctors say…" Layla touched her mother's shoulder.

"What's inoperable mean?" Sarah asked her father.

Dean looked down at her, sadly. "It means Layla can't have an operation to get rid of it," he explained.

"But my mom had a lot of operations, they just didn't help."

"Did your mother have a brain tumor, honey?" Layla asked Sarah.

She nodded up at her, slowly.

"It must have been another kind of tumor, then."

"It caused her to lose her memory. Then she died during her last surgery," Sarah told her.

Layla looked at the little girl, sadly. "I'm sorry to hear that. So, if the reverend hadn't of healed your dad, you would lost both of your parents, huh?"

Sarah nodded and rested her head against her father's leg. "All in one year, too."

Layla looked at Dean. "Her mother just died not that long ago?"

He nodded, brushing Sarah's hair with his fingers.

She shook her head, slowly, "That would have been very hard for a young child to handle, I bet. I'm relieved the reverend choose you, then."

"I still would have offered you or someone else my place," Dean shrugged. "She has her uncle and her grandfather is out there, somewhere. They would have taken care of Sarah. Not that I don't love her, I do. Her and my brother are the only thing I live for, you know?"

Mrs. Rourke turned sharply to look at him. "Children have to learn the harsh reality someday. That's still isn't an excuse why you deserve to live more than my daughter." With that, she headed back down the steps.

Layla followed after her.

Dean watched them go then looked at the ground. Sarah interrupted his thoughts, "Dad, am I selfish?" He squatted down to her level, "Why would you think that?"

"Because I wanted you to be healed when other people needed to be healed, too," she said.

"Sometimes, when a loved one is in that spot, all you can think of is them getting better," he explained. "You block out all the rest like they don't matter. It's a normal human thing, Sarah."

A tear escaped her right eye and ran down her cheek. "What if Layla doesn't make it? What if she dies like my mom did?"

Dean looked down again for a moment. He looked up at her, "Sometimes, people die, baby girl. It's a part of life and sometimes we can't do anything about it. Maybe Layla will get better," he shrugged, "maybe not. I don't want her to die, either but who knows what will happen."

Sarah stared at the ground, listening until her father was done talking, then she looked up at him. "Life sucks."

Dean had to smile at that. "Don't I know it, baby girl."


	21. Chapter 21

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 21

Dean unlocked the door to their motel room, letting Sarah in first and shut the door behind him. He tossed the keys on the bed, closest to the door before removing his jacket, not saying a word. Sarah wandered over to her uncle, who was sitting at the small table, on his computer.

She wrapped her arm around him, "Hey, Uncle Sam. Did you find anything?"

Sam kissed her head. "Hey, peanut," he told her.

Dean had tossed his jacket on the bed farther from the door and walked over to them. "What did you find out?" he asked his brother.

"I'm sorry," Sam told him.

He stared at him. Sorry about what?"

"Marshall Hall died at 4:17." Sam let out a sigh.

"The exact time I was healed," Dean realized.

"What does that mean?" asked Sarah, looking between her father and uncle.

"Well, I put together a list. Everyone Roy healed, six people over the past six months," Sam explained. He reached for a stack of papers and handed it to Dean, "and I cross-checked them with the local obits. Every time someone was healed, someone else died and each time the victim died of the same symptom Le Grange was healing at the time."

"So someone is healed of cancer, someone else dies of cancer?" Dean questioned.

"Somehow, La Grange…" he let out a deep breath. "…is trading a life for another."

Dean, who had sat down across from his brother, shook his head. His bad feeling was taking a turn for the worst as he learned the truth behind Roy's "healing powers." "Wait, wait, wait. So…Marshall died to save me?"

"Dean, the guy probably would have died, anyway, and someone else would have been healed."

"You never should have brought me here," he said, standing up once again.

"Dean, I was just trying to save your life," Sam told him. "For Sarah's sake," he nodded towards his niece still beside him.

Dean was walking away. He turned back to face him, raising his voice, "But, Sam, some guy is dead now because of me."

"I didn't know."

Sarah stared at the floor, torn. Torn between her father alive and well, and torn from the fact that someone had to die in order for Dean to live. She loved him so much that she never, ever wanted to lose him. But, to think of this Marshall guy dead. His friends and loved ones crushed from the lost and now probably grieving over him. Sarah didn't like it. In fact, she ran from the room and out of the lobby, pushing the front, main doors with full force that it flew open and bounced closed after she was outside.

She hid her face in her arms that she folded them on the hood of the Impala and cried. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't Roy have been a real healer? Why couldn't her father have been healed without anyone having to die in his place?

If luck would have it, Mark was sitting out there, puffing on a cigarette, enjoying the chilly, cloudy day of the beginning of May. He had looked over when he heard the door fly open and saw Sarah run out.

He took one last puff and flicked it on the ground. The lit cigarette landed in a shallow puddle. Mark wheeled over to her. "What's wrong, Sar Bear?"

Sarah lifted her head and sniffled back a whole lot of mucus. "Roy's a fake," she just blurted out, without thinking of what she was saying and who she was saying it to. "Someone else died so my dad could be healed. Who probably didn't even deserve it."

Mark stared at his second cousin. "A fake?" he asked. "I traveled all the way from South Dakota just to hear the guy's a fake?"

She sniffed, wiping her eyes. "What's with you, Mark?"

He held his arms out. "My legs."

"What happened to them?"

"I was wounded over in Iraq during a battle. I told my friend to just leave me there and save himself. Well, he's dead and I'm alive. Not even able to use my legs." Mark looked away at the wet pavement. "I rather have died then live like this."

Sarah dried her eyes and scrunched her eyebrows together. She stepped towards her second cousin. "Didn't you tell me once that it's not what's on the outside that counts, it's what's on the inside?"

"That was before, Sar Bear," he told her, sadly. "Now, just thinking about sitting here not able to do anything… I rather be dead."

Sadness turned to anger. "Don't say that, Mark!" she snapped at him. "Just because you can't walk, doesn't mean you're useless. Don't you look around when you see Roy heal someone? See the pain they're going through? There's people who are worse off than you, Mark. Like today, someone miles away, died so my dad could live. My dad has to live with that fact. That Roy ended the man's life so he could heal my dad."

"Big deal, it should have been me," he replied. "You don't know what your dad did. To you, to your mom."

Sarah stepped forward, towards her second cousin just as Dean opened the door. "My dad didn't do anything to me or Mom. He wasn't even around, remember?!"

Dean froze in his tracks, holding the door open. He shook his head and said, "Sarah, come inside. You know better than to run out like that without your uncle or me."

She turned and walked over to her father, looking up at him. "I'm sorry, Dad."

"Just don't do it again," he told her. Looking over at Mark, Dean said, "Stay away from my daughter. The last thing she needs is you filling her head with a bunch of crap."

Sarah looked back at Mark, then at Dean. "What's going on? Are you both fighting?"

"It's nothing, Sarah. Let's go back inside." Dean placed his hand on the back of his daughter's head and led her inside the door. They headed back to the motel room. "What's wrong," he asked her.

She shoved her hands inside her sweatshirt pocket. "It ain't fair, Dad."

Dean looked ahead. "I know, but neither you or Sam knew."

"It still doesn't make it right," Sarah told him, bitterly.

"True." He stopped in front of their room's door and turned to face her. He had been walking with his hands in his jeans pockets. "You know what I have to do though, right?"

Sarah stared up at him and shook her head. "No, what?"

"Think, baby girl. You ran out without me or Sam, into a parking lot where something could have happened to you."

Her eyes grew wide when it finally sunk in. Sarah backed away. "I said I was sorry, Dad. I was upset."

"And I realized that, but I have told you never to leave the motel unless Sam or myself is with you."

Sarah hugged her father's legs to her. "Please don't, Daddy. I won't do it again, I promise."

Dean just looked down at her. He closed his eyes, hating the fact of what he had to do when they got in the room. This was the part of fatherhood he was not looking forward to but knew he had to do it. Sarah had to learn what she needed to know. He had to keep her safe and that meant doing what he told her to do. Dean removed his hands from his pockets and lifted his daughter, up into his arms, rubbing her back in circles. He kissed the side of her head and carried Sarah inside.

"Sam, can you step out for a moment while Sarah and I have a chat?" he asked of his brother.

Sam nodded and stood up, closing his laptop. "I'll go get a soda. Want one?"

"No, but get Sarah a Sprite."

He nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Dean sat down on the foot of the bed, closest to the door, setting Sarah on his lap, facing him. "Look at me," he told her, nudging her off his shoulder. "I understand you were upset by what Sam said. Believe me, I'm pissed, too. But that's no reason to go running out to the parking lot. What if someone had taken you, Sarah? What if someone had hit you with their car?"

Sarah wiped her nose on her sleeve, sniffling.

Dean watched her, grossed out. "We have got to wash your sweatshirt, kid," he stated, looking her sweatshirt over.

"I won't do it again," she told him.

"I know you won't but I still need to punish you for this time."

Sarah hid her face in his chest. "Please don't, Daddy," she pleaded with him.

Dean rubbed her back, his chin resting on top of her head. "I have to, baby girl. I hate to, but I don't have a choice." Dean then lifted her off of his lap and tried to lay Sarah on her stomach. She fought against him as best as she could but lost. He wrapped his arm around her waist and began to spank her, pulling way back on his strength so he wouldn't seriously hurt her.

Sarah cried out, trying to get away but her father kept his grip on her. After a dozen swats, Dean stopped and pulled his balling child back into his arms.

"It's over, baby girl," he assured her, rubbing her back. "I'm sorry I had to do that. But I was very serious about leaving my sight. I just don't want anything to happen to you, that's all."

She was crying on his right shoulder. "I want Uncle Sammy!"

"He'll be back. Sam went to get a soda." Dean's heart ached, hearing his daughter request for someone other than him. He hated having to punish his little girl. Sarah still loved her father, though and Dean knew it. He remembered the many times when John had punished Sam, and Sam only wanted Dean.

After a few minutes, Sam knocked, peeking his head in. Dean told him he could come in and Sam walked in, closing the door behind him. When Sarah saw her uncle was back, she got off of her father's lap and ran over to him.

Sam stacked the soda in his right hand onto the one in his left, and lifted his niece up, careful of her sore bottom. He walked over to the table to set the cans down. Sam then rubbed his left hand on his shirt before rubbing Sarah's back in circles.

Sarah cried into her uncle's chest, hugging his neck. "Shh, shh, it's okay, peanut. I got ya," he told his niece in a gentle voice. Sam looked over at Dean who had his face in his hands, knowing both of them were having a tough time with this. "We care about you and don't want anything to get you." She just continued to cry into his chest.

After a while, once Sarah was feeling better, the Winchesters discussed what it was they were hunting. Dean had come to the conclusion that it was a reaper.

"You really think it's thee grim reaper?" Sam was asking him. "Like Angel of Death, collect your soul, the whole deal?"

"No, no, no," said Dean, looking up from his research. "Not the reaper, a reaper. There's reaper lore in pretty much every culture on Earth, go by a hundred different names. It's possible there's more than one of them."

Sarah was sitting at the table, looking at the pictures of reapers. "But Dad, you said it was a guy in a suit. Aren't they skeletons in black robes, that carrying around a scythe?" she asked.

Dean shook his head. "Sam, you said the clock stopped, right?" He held up a picture of a reaper skeleton holding an hourglass. "Reapers stop time. And you can only see them when they're coming at you which is why I could see it and you two couldn't."

"Right, I know that but…" Sarah said.

Dean cut her off. "Times are different and I am sure reapers updated their attire. There, satisfied?"

She nodded.

"Maybe," Sam muttered.

"There's nothing else it could be, Sam," Dean told him. "The question is, how's Roy controlling the damn thing."

"Are you sure it's Roy?" asked Sarah.

He looked up from his research. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. When we talked to Roy, he looked like he really believed he can heal people. Maybe it's someone else. Maybe Sue Ann is doing it or something. I mean, the guy woke up from a coma with "healing powers," no one could cock that up, themselves." Sarah did quotation marks with her fingers when she said, "healing powers."

"You could be right, Sarah," Sam spoke up from realization. "That cross."

Dean and Sarah looked over at him. "What was that last part?" asked Dean.

Sam picked up a deck of Tarot cards, and began scanning through them. "There was this cross, I…I noticed it in the church tent. I knew I seen it before." He found the card and scoffed, showing it to his brother. Sarah got up, onto her legs, leaning on the table to see as well. "Here."

Dean took it, looking at it. "A tarot?"

"It makes sense," he said. "Tarot dates back to the early Christian era, right? When some priests were still using magic, and a few of them veered into the dark stuff. Necromancy and how to push death away, how to cause it."

"So, Roy," Dean glanced at his daughter, "or Sue Ann, possibly," he turned back to Sam, "could be using black magic to bind the reaper."

Sam took the card back, "They are then they're riding a whirlwind. It's like putting a dog leash on a great white."

Sarah was trying to figure out her uncle's last statement. "How do you put a dog leash on a shark?"

"It's a figure of speech, peanut," he told her as Dean stood up to put his cup in the sink.

Dean turned around and leaned against it, on his hands. "Okay, then we stop them."

"How?" asked Sam.

"You know how."

"What the hell are you talking about, Dean? We can't kill them."

"Sam, whether it's Roy or Sue Ann, or whoever, they're playing God. They're deciding who lives and who dies. That's a monster in my book."

"No, we're not going to kill a human being, Dean," Sam told him. "We do that then we're no better than they are."

"Okay, we can't kill them," said Dean, "we can't kill death. Any bright ideas, college boy?"

Sam looked down, "Okay, uh…if one of them is using some kind of black spell on the reaper, we gotta figure what it is and how to break it."

They drove back to the church's tent to find some answers on how Roy or Sue Ann was controlling the reaper. Sam and Sarah searched their house, while Dean tried to keep Roy from healing anyone. If things weren't bad enough, Roy had chosen Layla next, which made it harder for Dean to stop it. Sure enough, he did. Sam had found an old spell book with news clippings in it of people one of them or both thought were immoral. Heading outside, Sam and Sarah tried to keep the reaper away from the protester in the parking lot while Dean faked a fire, getting everyone out. It didn't stop the reaper though until Dean saw Sue Ann and hurried over to her, catching her with a cross necklace.

Sue Ann called for help and Dean was dragged out of the tent. After stating she was disappointed in him, Sue Ann told the police that they could let Dean go with no charges. Dean saw Layla who also couldn't believe what Dean had done and walked away from him, sadly. Dean felt worse than she did about the whole thing.

"So Roy really believes," Sam was saying when they were back in the motel room.

Dean was looking out the window where he saw Mark smoking again. "I don't think Roy has any idea what his wife is doing."

"Well," he said, holding up the spell book, "I found this hidden in their library. It's ancient. Written by a priest who went dark side. There's a binding spell in here for trapping a reaper."

Dean had sat down beside where Sarah was sitting, on the bed next to the one Sam was sitting on. "Must be one hell of a spell."

"Sam agreed, "Yeah. You gotta build a black alter with seriously dark stuff: bones, human blood." He shook his head, "To cross a line like that… That preacher's wife… Black magic, murder. Evil."

Dean looked through the book as Sarah looked, too. He looked up at Sam, "Desperate. Her husband was dying, she would've done anything to save him. She was using the binding spell to keep the reaper away from Roy."

"Cheating death," Sam nodded and chuckled. "Literally."

"But why keep doing it if Roy's okay now?" Sarah asked them.

"Good question, baby girl," said Dean.

"Right," agreed Sam, too. "To force the reaper to kill people she thinks are immoral."

He scoffed, shaking his head and shutting the book in his hands. "May God save us from half the people who think they're doing God's work."

"We gotta break that binding spell, Dean."

Dean glanced up at Sam and reopened the book to a picture of a cross. "Sue Ann had a Coptic cross like this and when she dropped it, the reaper backed off."

Sam placed his hand on his knee, "So you think we gotta find the cross or destroy the alter?"

"Maybe both," shrugged Sarah.

"Possibly," said Dean, "but whatever we do, we better do it soon. Roy's healing Layla tonight." He stood up and headed over to the kitchen. They drove once again back to the tent in time for the healing service to begin. "If Roy had picked her instead of me, she'd be healed right now."

Dean, don't," Sam told him.

"And if she's not healed tonight, she's gonna die in a couple months."

Sarah leaned over the back of the front seat. "It's like you said, though, people die. It's a part of life," she reminded her father.

"And you also said it, yourself, Dean," Sam added, "You can't play God."

Dean didn't respond to any of them. He stared over at the tent where Roy and Layla were starting the service. Dean knew it was all true, he just wished it wasn't. Eventually, he opened his car door and stepped out. Sam and Sarah followed, all shutting their doors.

While Dean distracted the police, Sam and Sarah hurried up to Roy and Sue Ann's house, wandering around the porch for a way in. Sam noticed some cellar doors and hurried over to them. Sarah followed, closely behind. She looked around as Sam opened the doors. He climbed in first, letting Sarah in before he closed the doors behind them. Uncle and niece descended the stairs that led into the cellar. The room was dark as they looked around.

Sarah was the first to notice a table with a bunch of black magic stuff and lit candles laid out on it. "Uncle Sam," she pointed with her thumb at the table.

Sam hurried over to the table and looked at it.

"Ew, gross," she said, beside him.

"What were you expecting? Thanksgiving dinner?" he asked her. Sam noticed a picture of Dean with a black X over his face. He picked it up and looked at it.

Sue Ann's voice startled them from behind. "I gave your brother life and I can take it away."

The two of them turned their heads to find her standing behind them. Sam now angered, told his niece to move out of the way where he tipped the table over, knocking everything off. He and Sarah then ran after Sue Ann in time to have the cellar doors shut in their faces. Both Sam and Sarah tried to push them open but Sue Ann held it closed with a piece of board.

"Can't you both see? The Lord chose me to reward the just and punish the wicked, and Dean is wicked. And…"

That overly set Sarah off. "My dad is not wicked!" With the hardest push she could muster, something happened and the board snapped in half as the cellar doors flew open, sending Sue Ann flying back into the air.

Sam stared at his niece for a second, unable to comprehend what just happened before he realized they were on a job. He hurried from the cellar and ran over to where Sue Ann lay on the ground, on her back where he yanked the cross from her neck and threw it on the ground. The cross shattered into pieces, and blood oozed out from inside.

Sue Ann quickly got to her knees and kneeled over the broken cross as Sarah hurried up, behind her uncle. "My God. What have you done?"

"He's not your God," Sam told her.

She looked up in time to see the reaper standing there, staring back at her, grinning. Sue Ann tried to run but it reappeared behind her and placed a hand on her head. Sam and Sarah watched as the life was sucked out of her and lay lifeless on the ground.

Sam looked around then walked away back to the Impala, putting his arm around his niece. They met Dean there. "You okay?" he asked Dean.

"Hell of a week," Dean replied.

"Yeah."

"You can say that again," agreed Sarah.

"All right, come on," said Sam. "We should get going."

After a good night's sleep, the Winchesters packed up to leave town. Layla came over to say good-bye. Sam and Sarah left the two of them alone, grabbing some drinks for the road.

While Sam was putting in the first dollar in the soda machine, he couldn't help remember Sarah's little episode from the night before. "Hey Sarah, about last night," he said, pressing the Coke button.

"What about it?" she shrugged.

"How did you do that? Open those doors I mean."

She shrugged. "I don't know. Strange stuff like that happens when I'm really mad or scared."

Sam reached down and grabbed the can of soda and took another dollar from his wallet. He shook his head, placing the dollar inside the machine. "You just opened that like it was made of paper. And you're only seven."

"Seven and a half, actually," she told him. "It happened when Dad and I were on that skinwalker job, too."

"Sarah, don't tell me you're still reading that crap." Mark had wheeled up to them while the two of them were talking.

"Mark…uh…" Sarah looked to her uncle for help.

"Yeah, my niece was just telling me about these stories she was reading the other day," Sam lied to the man.

Mark scoffed, "We used to try and get her away from reading that garbage before it rots her brain."

"Look, I don't think it's a good idea for her to read and know about this stuff at her age either but there's nothing anyone can do," he told Mark. "This is who Sarah is and we can't change that."

"She was five years old reading stuff about ghosts and other supernatural creatures that most kids are afraid of, that she used to be afraid of. That sound healthy to you?" Mark demanded to him.

Sam shrugged, "No. No it doesn't but at least she isn't scared anymore."

The guy rolled his eyes then turned back to his second cousin. "Sarah, why don't you come back to South Dakota with my girlfriend and I. We would gladly take you in since we're getting married this summer. You can be flower girl."

Sarah exchanged looks with her uncle, and then looked back at Mark. "No."

"No?" he questioned.

"You heard me," she told him, calmly.

"But you loved coming over to my house and hanging out with me."

She shrugged, "Yeah, I did but that was before I found the part of my family who wasn't afraid of me. Who believes in me."

Mark raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I know the truth. In fact, I heard you and Mom talking once. You never believed in me, you thought I was a heavy burden on Mom. Well, I have my dad and Uncle Sammy here that say otherwise. Sorry to say this, but I want nothing to do with you. We're on a quest to find my grandpa and I want to finish it with my dad and uncle."

Mark stared up at Sam. "What did you people do to my cousin?"

Sam smirked, shrugging his shoulders at him, "Love her."

He looked back at Sarah who crossed her arms. When his girlfriend walked up to them from outside, Mark stormed away in his wheelchair, fuming.

Sam turned to his niece. "You would choose this life over a normal one?"

Sarah shrugged at him, too. "Even when I had a normal life, it never felt comfortable to me. Having this life of hunting evil and finding Grandpa has been more comfortable than anything else before."

Sam frowned when he heard his niece tell him that. He had her make a selection of what soda she wanted and when Dean was ready, the Winchesters left town.


	22. Chapter 22

**Couple things first: First, so glad _Supernatural _won Best Sci-Fi TV show and Most Fan Following on the People's Choice Awards****, but a little bummed out Jensen Ackles didn't win Best Dramatic Actor. **

**Second, I received a couple questions regarding characters and episodes. While I'll gladly take episode requests, like if there's an episode you would want to see Sarah in, I might consider it but please don't ask if I will do a particular one or will bring a character back 'cause I will just tell you to wait and read to find out. I don't usually like giving away what I have planned before I get to that part. Plus, sometimes I may not even have a plan yet. Thanks for reading and enjoy the chapter!**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 22

Sarah tossed and turned as visions of a man trapped in a garage, in his car ran through her mind. Exhaust fumes quickly filled around as he tried to escape. Sarah whimpered in her sleep, wishing she could run in and save him.

Sam shot up over in his bed, looking around. He looked over at his brother and niece when her whimpers caught his attention. He shook Dean's hand that was hanging over the side. "Dean," said Sam, trying to wake his brother up after he turned on the bedside lamp.

Dean groaned, half asleep. He rubbed his left eye, "What are you doing, man? It's the middle…" He happened to glance over at Sarah, who was still tossing and turning, and whimpering. Dean quickly sat up in bed and shook his daughter, trying to wake her as Sam ran around the motel room, getting his stuff together. "Sarah? Wake up, baby girl."

Sarah bolted out of a sound sleep, sitting up.

"You okay?" he asked, concerned.

She looked straight at her father. "Dad, I think someone's gonna die soon."

"I saw it, too, Sarah," Sam said as he shoved his clothes inside his bag. "Man trapped in his car?"

Sarah nodded at her uncle.

"Come on, we have to go. Now." Sam grabbed up his duffel bag and hurried out the door.

Dean pushed back the comforter and swung his legs out of bed, onto the floor. "Don't bother getting dressed, okay? You can go back to sleep in the car. Just get your shoes on."

Both of them threw on their shoes and grabbed their stuff before going outside to the Impala. While Dean drove, Sam called posing as a policeman calling about the man in his and Sarah's dream.

"I would say this is just a normal, everyday, naked-in-class nightmare but if both of you are having it, I guess something's up," said Dean. "Unless it's a coincidence."

Sam moved the phone away from his mouth. "Since when do two people have the same dream at the same time?"

He shrugged, gripping the top of the steering wheel in one hand, "It could happen in families."

"I don't think so." Sam returned to his call.

"But why would you two be dreaming of some random dude?" asked Dean.

"I have before," Sarah said from the backseat. "I have the dream and two days or sometimes a day later, I see that it really happened on the news."

Dean looked at his daughter in the rear-view mirror. "And you never met them at all?"

She shook her head, "No."

Sam was confirmed that the dream checked out. The guy was named Jim Miller from Saginaw, Michigan.

Soon, they pulled into a suburban neighborhood, up to a house that had an ambulance, police cars, and a crowd of people standing across the street.

"How come when there's anything with a siren at a house, the whole dang neighborhood has to come and watch?" Sarah asked, hanging over the back of the front seat as they watched Jim Miller get rolled up inside a body bag.

The Winchesters stepped out of the Impala and wandered up to the crowd to try and get some information. Sarah stopped beside a middle-aged woman. "What happened?" She asked her.

The woman glanced down at her. "Shouldn't you be home, in bed? Where are your parents?"

"Dad's over there," Sarah pointed over to where Dean was talking to a man. "So, you're going to tell me or do I need to ask someone else?"

"You're too young to understand, sweetheart."

Sarah sighed, "Look, I know some stuff that would probably make your head spin. So, again, what happened?" She tried to remain as calm and patient with the woman.

"Fine, it was suicide," the woman gave in.

"Did you know him?" Sarah asked.

"Saw him every Sunday at St. Augustine's. He always seems…seemed…so normal. Guess you never know what's going on behind closed doors."

Sarah was finding it hard to see the house or the family Jim Miller left behind. All she could see was the lower halves of everyone. "Guess not, huh? How did he do it?"

The woman was staring over the crowd of people. "Locked inside his car with the engine running."

"I never knew you can die that way."

She nodded, "In a small closed in space like that, breathing in car exhaust fumes can be hazardous to your lungs."

"How long ago did it happen?"

"It happened about an hour or two ago," the woman told her before she sighed. "Poor family. I can't imagine what they're going through."

Someone finally moved out of the way and Sarah got a look at the family. There was a woman crying, comforted by another man and a young man, around Sam's age. Sarah noticed he didn't show any emotion which she figured, he was masking it. After talking to the woman, Sarah walked away where Sam and Dean were talking.

"So what do you think killed him?" Sam was asking Dean.

"Maybe the guy just killed himself, you know? Maybe there's nothing supernatural going on at all," Dean shrugged.

Sarah had her hands in her sweatshirt pocket. "I saw it, Dad. The man was trying to escape but none of the doors would unlock. It has to be something going on, right, Uncle Sam?" She turned to her uncle.

"Like what?" Dean shrugged, "A spirit? A Poltergeist? What?"

Sarah just shrugged at him.

"I don't know why Sarah and I are having these dreams," said Sam. "I don't know what the hell is happening." Dean stared at him. "What?"

"Nothing. Man, I'm just…I'm worried about you."

"Well, don't look at me like that," he told him.

"You don't worry about me?" Sarah asked her father.

"You seem a little more mellow over this than Sam is." Dean walked over to open his car door. "We'll check out the house, talk to the family."

"You saw them," Sam told him. "They're devastated. They're not gonna want to talk to us."

Dean looked over at the Miller family. "Yeah, you're right." He looked back at Sam. "But I think I know who they will talk to."

"Who?" asked Sarah.

Dean smiled his crooked smile at them which got a raised eyebrow from his daughter. The next day, Dean rang the Millers' doorbell. All three of them were dressed as priests.

"This has got to be a whole new low for us," Sam muttered.

"You ever see a midget priest?" Sarah scowled at her father and uncle, mostly at her father since it was his idea. It was one thing to pretend to be an adult but to pretend to be a male priest was another. "I hate this! I hate this! I ha…." The front door opened and the guy hugging Mrs. Miller the night before was standing there. "Hello," Sarah quickly changed her tone to a cheerful one.

"Good afternoon," Dean greeted the guy. "I'm Father Simmons. This is Father Freely and Father…Cornfeld."

Sarah rolled her eyes at the name he had chosen.

"We're new junior priests over at St. Augustine's. May we come in?"

The guy glanced down at Sarah. "Isn't he a little young?"

"Nope, I'm the same age," Sarah replied.

The guy shook it off and let them in.

"We're very sorry for your loss," Sam told him.

"It's in difficult times like these," said Dean, "when the Lord's guidance is most needed."

The guy held up his hands at them, "Look, you wanna pitch your whole "Lord has a plan" thing? Fine. Don't pitch it to me. My brother's dead."

Mrs. Miller came from the other room. "Roger…please," she told him, holding a casserole dish.

"Excuse me," the guy, Roger told the Winchesters before he walked away.

The Winchesters turned to face Mrs. Miller. "I'm…I'm sorry about my brother-in-law. He's…He's just so upset about Jim's death. Uh, would you like some coffee?"

Dean smiled at her, "That would be great" while Sarah politely declined.

While Sam and Dean had some coffee to drink, they asked Mrs. Miller about her husband. "Did your husband have a history of depression?" Dean asked her.

She shook her head. "Nothing like that. We had our ups and downs, like everyone but we were happy." Mrs. Miller started crying. "I just don't understand…how Jim could do something like this."

Sam shared a look with his brother before he said, "I am so sorry you had to find him like that."

"Actually…our son, Max…" She pointed behind her towards the young man also from last night. "He was the one who found him."

"Do you mind if…if maybe I go talk to him?"

"Oh, oh thank you, Father," she told Sam who stood up and went over to where the young man, Max was sitting alone. Sarah stood up and followed after her uncle.

"Max?" Sam asked him. "Hey, I'm Sam."

"And I'm Sar…lic," Sarah made up on the spot getting a raised eyebrow from her uncle.

Sam sat down to be at Max's level. "So what was your dad like?" he asked him.

Max just shrugged, "Just a normal dad."

"Yeah. And you live at home now?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I'm trying to save up for school, but it's hard."

There was a slight pause as Sam forced a smile. "So when you found your dad…?"

"I woke up," Max told them, "I heard the engine running. I don't know why he did it."

Sam nodded, "I know it's rough losing a parent. Especially when you don't have all the answers."

Max just shrugged as if it was nothing, growing Sarah more curious. To her, it seemed like Max didn't actually care about his father's death. When they were done talking, her and Sam went in search of Dean who had stated he needed to use the restroom. They found him upstairs, scanning for anything supernatural. Dean didn't find anything.

When they got back outside, Sam had to say something to his niece. "Sarlic?"

"What?" she shrugged. "It was the first thing to pop into my head. Have you ever heard a boy named Sarah? I don't think so."

"Yeah, but Sarlic?" he said. "What kind of name is Sarlic?"

Sarah opened her door, climbing in before she shut it. "That Dragonball Z movie that was on TV the other night was still on my mind. Okay? And I needed something that went with Sar."

"So you chose Sarlic?" Dean questioned. "That's not even a real name."

"Dad, don't even get me started on the last name you picked for me."

Dean started the engine. "What's wrong with the name I chose?"

She stared at him. "Really, Dad? Cornfeld? You got that from corn field, didn't you?"

"Okay, so we both suck at thinking up names," he gave in.

Sarah took off the white collar that was making her neck itch and reached underneath the seat for her PSP, turning it on. "By the way, the countdown is eleven days," she said as her _Need for Speed: Most Wanted_ game started.

Sam sighed, "For the fifteenth time, peanut, we may not be able to have your birthday."

"We had yours," she pointed out, looking up from her game.

Sam placed his left arm across the back of the front seat. "You jumped on me at five in the morning, waking me up, singing _Happy Birthday_, then gave me a candy bar as a gift."

"She woke you at five?" Dean questioned. "Sarah woke me up at four to sing _Happy Birthday_ to me."

"Really? What did you get?" he asked.

"A big hug and kiss and a homemade birthday card," Dean smirked.

"What?" Sam looked outraged, but smiled. He looked back at his niece, "How come I didn't get a homemade birthday card?"

Sarah looked up from her game again. "I ran out of paper. My whole journal is full."

He smiled at her, "So if I get you another notebook, you'd make me a belated birthday card?"

She nodded, "Yeah. I was bummed when I couldn't make you one like Dad's."

"Okay, so after we're done here, we'll stop at a drug store or something and I will get you one."

Dean looked back really quick to say, "And don't worry, Sarah. We'll think of something to do for your birthday."

Sam looked at him. "Dean, what about finding Dad?"

"Like a hundred times before, we will find him but until then, I want my daughter to have at least some happy memories besides hunting monsters," Sam looked out his window, "Even if we just grab some burgers and a small cupcake and celebrate in a motel. I want to do something for her birthday." Dean looked back at Sarah again. "What's the day, again?"

"June second," Sarah replied not taking her eyes off her game as she tried to outrun a couple cop cars that were on her tail.

Sam looked out the back window of the Impala. "Are we being followed by a cop?" he asked before he realized it was coming from his niece's PSP.

"No, it's Sarah's game," said Dean as he drove for real. "How many you have after you, Sarah?"

"Two, I think," she replied.

"That's my girl," he laughed, proudly getting a death glare from his brother which he noticed. "What? It's not like I would really want my daughter to be outrunning the cops."

Sam just shook his head as they headed for a motel.

At the Escanaba Motel, Sam did some research while Dean and Sarah cleaned their weapons, sitting crossed-legged on the bed.

"So, what do you have?" Dean asked as he cleaned out a gun barrel.

"Whole lot of nothing," replied Sam as he pinned up some news clippings. "Nothing bad has happened in the Miller house since it was built."

"What about the land?" He was inspecting Sarah's cleaning job, giving it back to her. "More thorough than that, Sarah."

Sarah took the gun barrel back and cleaned it again, more thoroughly, this time.

"No graveyards, battlefields, tribal lands, or any kind of atrocity on or near the property," Sam explained, walking towards them and sat down on his own bed.

"Hey man, I told ya," said Dean, putting a gun together. "I searched that house up and down. No cold spots, no sulfur scent, nada."

Sam looked back at his brother, "And the family said everything was normal?"

"Well, if there was a demon or poltergeist, don't you think someone would have noticed something? I used the infrared thermal scanner, man. There was nothing."

"There has to be something, Dad," Sarah spoke up, putting the gun she was cleaning, together. "I don't have dreams of non-supernatural deaths. Something is up with that house."

"No, I'm pretty sure there's nothing supernatural about that house," Dean told her, working on another gun now.

"Yeah. Well," said Sam, his back to them, "you know, maybe, uh…maybe it has nothing to do with the house." He winced in pain, grabbing his forehead. "Maybe uh, it's just, uh…gosh. Maybe it's connected to Jim…in some other way."

Dean stopped testing the gun to stare at him. "What's wrong with you?"

Sarah made to crawl over to see if her uncle was alright. When she climbed onto his bed and crawled over to Sam, her head started hurting, as well. Sarah dropped onto her stomach as she held her forehead in both hands.

Sam slowly dropped to a squatting position onto the floor beside the bed as he and Sarah both groaned in pain. Dean stood up and hurried around to Sam, kneeling to his level. He touched Sam's right, upper arm and Sarah's left shoulder.

"Hey. Hey!" he told his brother and daughter. "What's going on? Talk to me. Someone."

Sam was gasping, his hands away from his forehead as Sarah continued to hold hers. Visions of Roger Miller in his apartment, being murdered flashed through their minds, ending with his head in the dirt box on the outside of the kitchen window. "It's happening again. Something's gonna kill Roger Miller."

Sarah painfully agreed, nodding her head.


	23. Chapter 23

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 23

Sarah sat in the back seat of the Impala, curled up in a ball. It's been seven, eight months since she started having nightmares of people dying but never had she had one while she was awake. It scared her to no end, too. Why was this happening to her? To her uncle? She wanted to fall asleep and try and get that demon to come but who was she kidding. Sarah already tried to ask him. He wouldn't tell her anything. What difference did it make now?

Her father interrupted her thoughts. He was looking at her through the rear-view mirror. "You okay, baby girl?"

Sarah just nodded, not looking at him.

"Like I told Sam, if you need to hurl I'll pull the car over," he told her.

Sarah just brought her knees up more and folded her arms on top, hiding her face.

Sam watched his niece. He knew how she was feeling. Afraid, confusion, wonder. Sam desperately wanted to know what the hell was going on with them, too. He turned to his big brother, the guy that has always been there when he was afraid or upset. "Dean, I'm scared, man. These nightmares weren't bad enough, now Sarah and I are seeing things when we're awake? And these visions or whatever, they're getting…more intense. And painful."

Dean just drove, calmly. He glanced at his brother out of the corner of his eye. "Come on, man," he assured Sam. "It'll be all right. You'll both be fine."

"What is it about the Millers?" Sam asked. "Why are we connected to them? Why are Sarah and I watching them die? Why the hell is this happening to us?"

Sarah listened as she stayed curled up. Those were questions she was asking herself. Why? What made her and Sam so important that they could watch people about to die? She heard her father say, "I don't know, Sam but we'll figure it out, okay?" There was some frustration apparent in his voice. "We face the unexplainable every single day. This is just another thing."

Sam shook his head, "No. It's never been us. It's never been in the family like this. Tell the truth, you can't tell me this doesn't freak you out."

Dean didn't answer right away. "This doesn't freak me out," he replied. Deep down though, it did. It scared Dean to no end. He didn't know what was happening to his little brother or his daughter. Dean glanced up, into the rear-view mirror at Sarah, who was still in a ball like a hedgehog. He wanted to help them. Protect them. But what could he do? He already felt bad that he sleeps right through when Sarah has a nightmare and was thankful Sam could be awake for her, but that wasn't Sam's job. Dean was her father, not Sam. Unlike his father, Dean felt that Sarah was only his responsibility not someone else's.

By the time, they reached Roger's apartment, it was too late. Roger wouldn't listen to the Winchesters so they had to climb the fire escape. By the time the three of them reached Roger's kitchen window, it was too late.

Dean pulled out a couple handkerchiefs and handed them to Sam and Sarah, telling them to start wiping down their fingerprints so the police wouldn't know they were there while he took a look inside. Sam and Sarah got to work while Dean climbed through a window into Roger's apartment.

"I'm telling you, there was nothing in there," Dean was saying as they headed back to the Impala. "There's no signs, either, just like the Millers' house."

"I saw something. In the visions," said Sam, walking beside him. "Like a dark shape. Something was…" A car horn honked and Dean stopped Sam from walking out in front of it so the car could go by without hitting him. Sarah was walking behind her father with her head down and her hands in her sweatshirt pockets, running into the back of his legs. "…Something was stalking Roger." Sam turned to his niece. "Did you get a good look at it, peanut?"

Sarah didn't answer. In fact, she was starting to act like the way Lucas was, back in Wisconsin as she continued to stare at the ground.

Dean snapped his fingers at her. "Hey, remember what I told you," he told her. "We're on a job."

But Sarah still did not respond. Sam and Dean exchanged looks between each other.

"That's not good," said Sam.

Dean looked between him and Sarah, "You're telling me." He lifted Sarah into his arms and held her as Sarah immediately latched onto his neck. "It'll be all right, baby girl. I promise."

The next day, the Winchesters returned to the Millers' house. There was a possibility that Max was endanger too so they wanted to get more information. They posed as priests, once again, against Sarah's better judgment, and talked to Max, himself.

"My mom's resting," Max was explaining as they walked into the living room, "she's pretty wreaked."

"Of course," said Dean.

"All these people kept coming," he went on, "with, like, casseroles. I finally had to tell them all to go away. You know, because nothing says "I'm sorry" like a tuna casserole."

"Ew, gross," Sarah just blurted out.

"I agree," Max shrugged.

Sam quietly chuckled at the two of them.

Max smiled to himself. "Uh…"

All of them sat down.

Sam sighed, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay," he replied.

"Your dad and uncle were…were close?"

Yeah, I guess," said Max. "I mean, they were brothers. They used to hang out all the time when I was little."

Sam shook his head, "But not lately, much?"

"No, it's not that. It's just…we used to be neighbors when I was a kid and we lived across town in this house, and…Uncle Roger lived next door, so he was over all the time."

"Right," said Sam. "So, how was it in that house, when you were a kid?"

"It was fine. Why?"

Dean asked, "All good memories? Do you remember anything…unusual? Something involving your…father and your uncle, maybe?"

Max shook his head. "Why do you…Why do you ask? Wh…"

"Just a question," he told him.

Max took a deep breath. "No. There was nothing. We were totally normal. He paused before he said, "happy."

"Good. That's good." Dean looked over at Sam while Sarah watched Max. Something wasn't right to her. Sarah could tell he was hiding something that the young man wasn't telling them. She heard her father tell him that he must have been tired and they got up to leave, thanking Max for his time. "Nobody's family is totally normal and happy," he said when they were outside. "Did you see when he was talking about his old house?"

"He sounded scared," said Sam before he walked to his side of the Impala.

"I don't think Max is telling us everything," Sarah spoke up.

"I couldn't agree more," Dean agreed as he removed the white collar, opening his door. "Nice to hear ya talking again, though." He grinned before getting into the Impala. Sarah hadn't spoken since last night, before hers and Sam's vision and Dean could admit he missed hearing his daughter's sweet voice. "I say we go find that old neighborhood. Find out what life was really like for the Millers." Dean drove across town to the Millers' old neighborhood where they talked to a man that lived across the street from their old house.

"Have you lived in the neighborhood very long?" Sam asked him.

"Well, almost twenty years now," he replied, cheerfully. One of the most cheerful Sarah had ever heard from the people they had interviewed over the last six months. "It's nice and quiet. Why, you're looking to buy?"

"No. No. Actually, we were just wondering if, uh…If you might recall a family that used to live right across the street, I believe."

"Yeah, the Millers," said Dean. "They, uh…They had a little boy named Max."

"Right," said Sam.

"Yeah, I remember." The man looked gloomy at that point. "The brother had the place next door." The Winchesters looked back at the house. "So, uh, what's this about? That poor kid, okay?"

Sarah raised an eyebrow as Sam asked, "What do you mean?"

"In all my life, I've never seen a child treated like that," he explained. "I mean, I'd hear Mr. Miller yelling and throwing things across the street. He was a…He was a mean drunk. He…He used to beat the tar out of Max. Bruises, broke his arm two times that I know of. "

"And this was going on regularly?"

"Practically every day."

Sam just shook his head as Dean placed a loving arm around Sarah. How anyone could hurt their child like that was beyond them. Sarah remembered nights when Emily drank. Oh yeah, her mother was a drinker, too. But never had she gotten drunk and taken a swing at her own child. Sarah put her arm around her father, looking at the cement as the man went on.

"In fact that thug brother of his was just as likely to take a swing at the boy."

Sarah looked over at her own uncle and switched over to his leg. Sam brushed his hand along the top of her head.

"The worst part…was the stepmother. She just…stand there, checked out…Never lifted a finger to protect him. I must have called the police seven or eight times. Never did any good. "

"Now, you said stepmother?" asked Dean.

"I think his real mom died. Some sort of…accident. Car accident, I think. Uh…" The man looked over at Sam and his niece who were both clutching their foreheads again. "Are you okay there?"

Dean looked over at them as they groaned. "Uh, yeah," said Sam, trying to look up at the man as Sarah clutched onto his leg in a very tight grip.

Dean thanked the man before he peeled his daughter from her uncle and started to lead the two of them away towards the Impala. It was too much for Sarah who dropped to the ground. Dean tried his hardest to focus on both her and Sam but it wasn't easy.

Another vision was running through their minds of Mrs. Miller cooking while she talked to Max. "I don't know what you mean by that," she was saying. "You know I never did anything."

Max stepped towards her, tearfully, "That's right. You didn't do anything." A knife on the counter started to rattle. "You didn't stop them. Not once." The knife hovered in mid-air.

"How did you…?"

The knife flew in front of her face and hovered where her right eye was.

Mrs. Miller backed away, towards the door frame. "Max. Please."

It moved closer, making her eye water.

"For every time you stood there and watched…" Max told her. "Pretending it wasn't happening."

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head, "No you're not. You just don't want to die."

The knife slowly moved back and stabbed her, going all the way through and into the wall behind her as Max watched.

The vision ended as Sarah screamed out, at the top of her lungs. Dean scooped her up, quickly as the man and several other neighbors who were out looked over in their direction. Sarah cried into her father's shoulder as he rubbed her back.

"It's okay," he assured her. "I got you, baby girl."

"Dean, we have to go," Sam told him, making his way to his side of the Impala, holding onto to it as he walked.

Dean opened his door and set his daughter in the middle of the front seat before he got in, beside her. He started the engine as Sarah clung to him again and when Sam was sitting on Sarah's other side, they drove back to the Millers' house.

"Max is doing it," Sam was saying as they drove. "Everything Sarah and I've been seeing."

"Is that what you saw, baby girl?" Dean asked his daughter.

Sarah nodded against his side. Dean drove with one hand while the other was wrapped around her.

"So, how is he pulling it off?"

"I don't know," said Sam, placing his elbow on the door and rubbing his eyes with the same hand. "It looked like telekinesis."

"So, he's psychic? He's a…? A spoon bender?"

"I didn't even realize it, but this whole time, he was there. He was outside the garage when his dad died. He was in the apartment when his uncle died. These visions, this whole time, we weren't connected to the Millers, Sarah and I was connected to Max," he explained. "The thing I don't get is why, man. I guess…because we're so alike?"

Dean looked over at his brother. "What are you talking about? Dude's nothing like you, and he's defiantly nothing like Sarah."

"Well, the three of us have psychic abilities. We're all…"

"All what?" he asked. "Sam, Max is a monster. He's already killed two people, and is gunning for a third."

"Well, with what he went through," said Sam, "the beatings…To want revenge on those people. I'm sorry, man. I hate to say it, but it's not that insane."

"Yeah, but it doesn't justify murdering your entire family," Dean told him.

"Dean…"

"He's no different from anything else we hunted. All right? We gotta end him." Dean parked in front of the Millers' house.

"We're not gonna kill Max," said Sam.

Dean shrugged at his brother, "Then what? Hand him over to the cops and say, lock him up, officer. He kills with the power of his mind?"

"Forget it. No way, man."

"Sam," Dean tried to argue.

"Dean, he's a person."

Dean turned off the engine, looking out his window.

"We can talk to him. Hey, promise me you'll follow my lead on this one."

He looked back at Sam. "All right. Fine," he gave in, reluctantly and had Sarah sit back so he could lean over to grab his gun out of the glove compartment. "But I'm not letting him hurt anyone else." Dean stepped out of the Impala, letting Sarah out, too before shutting his door.

Sam stepped out, as well, shutting his door.


	24. Chapter 24

**To answer some guest reviews, to the one looking for my "Daddy's Little Girl" story, I deleted it. It was basically a one-shot I was turning into a story that will somewhat be included in this. To "Mia" about Route 666, I skipped over that one. Route 666 comes right before this episode but I like how you said that Sarah would probably hate on Cassie. Didn't think about that :) If I had thought of that, I might not have skipped over it. Glad that everyone likes this so much considering Sarah was created first, last summer and I was just nervous about actually writing this out. Maybe I should go with my gut more often ;)**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 24

The Winchesters ran up to the house and the boys rammed right through the door. Max and his stepmother stared over at them, surprised. The Winchesters looked back, too. "Well, this is awkward," Sarah said.

"Fathers?" Mrs. Miller asked, confused.

"What are you doing here?" Max asked as well.

"Uh…" Dean tried to think of something to say. They had run in there without any explanation planned. "Sorry to interrupt."

Sam joined in, "Max, could we, uh…? Could we talk to you outside for…for just one second?"

Max stared at them, "About what?"

"It's…It's private," he told him, smiling while remaining calm."

"Probably shouldn't bother your mom with it since she's already been through enough," Sarah added. She was trying so hard to stay focused. After two painful visions, Sarah wanted nothing more than to be Patrick Star's roommate and live under a rock for a while. They had a job to do and she had to be brave for her father and uncle.

"We won't be long, at all," said Sam. "I promise."

Max shared a look with his stepmother, before turning back to the Winchesters. "Okay."

"Great," said Sam. They slowly turned and headed for the door, however, Max saw Dean's gun in his pocket and slammed the door shut from Dean's grasp, shutting the blinds as well.

"You're not priests!" Max yelled as Dean reached for his gun. He used his mind to take the gun and pointed it at the Winchesters.

"Max, what's happening?" his stepmother asked him.

"Shut up!"

"What are you doing?" Suddenly, she was thrown back against the kitchen counter, knocked out and bleeding.

Max held his hand against his forehead. "I said, shut up!"

Sarah swallowed and stepped towards him. Dean tried to pull her back but Sarah shook away from him. She looked at Max, her hands up. "Look Max," she began. "I…I know how you feel."

"No you don't," he snarled at her, still pointing the gun at them.

"Since I met you, I've felt something about you. Something familiar. Look, just let us talk to you. Please, I promise we won't hurt you."

"You're lying, that's why you brought this."

"That was a mistake," Sam told him. "But she's right, we just want to talk to you."

"We saw you kill your dad and uncle," Sarah told him. "And you were going to stab your stepmom in the eye."

Max demanded, "How?"

"We have powers like you do, Max."

"We have visions about you," Sam added.

"You're crazy," he told them.

"Is it hard to believe?" asked Sam. "Look what you can do. The three of us, me, my niece here, and you."

"Niece?" he questioned.

Sarah glanced away with her eyes, "Uh, yeah, my name's not really Sarlic. It's Sarah. But like I said, no more lies, I swear."

"I think we're here to help you, Max," said Sam. "Like Sarah and I were drawn here."

Max stood there, holding them at gunpoint still. Finally, after some more persuasion from not only Max, but Dean as well since he didn't want to leave his brother and daughter alone with Max, Dean carried Mrs. Miller upstairs to tend to her head wound.

Sam and Sarah sat in the living room with Max who twirled a letter opener on the table. Sarah actually stood in front of her uncle's chair. Sam sat on the edge of it, leaning his elbows on his knees.

"Look…we can't begin to understand what you went through," Sam began.

"That's right, you can't," Max told him, angrily.

"Did it feel like your dad was afraid of you?" Sarah asked. "Like he didn't know who you were? That it was your fault your mom died."

He looked at the little girl. "How did you know that?"

"Because that's how my mom felt about me," she told him.

"It doesn't matter, though," said Sam. "It has to stop."

"It will," said Max, staring at the spinning letter opener again. "After my stepmother."

"Even if they all die, the pain won't go away. It will always be there in your mind," Sarah said. "Just let her go."

"Why?"

"Did she beat you?" asked Sam.

"No, but she never tried to save me. She's a part of it, too."

"Look, what they did to you. What they all did to you growing up, they deserve to be punished."

He looked at Sam, "Growing up? Try last week." Max stood up and pulled his jacket and shirt up to reveal a bruise and a couple cuts.

Sarah couldn't believe what she saw and that it was done by his own father. Someone that was supposed to be protecting him, loving him. Sarah had no idea people could be cruel just like the monsters they hunted. She remembered the looks she would catch from her mother and wondered if Emily ever thought about hurting her. Or worse, killing her. Why not, Emily wanted to do it when Sarah was still growing inside her stomach.

"My dad still hit me," Max continued. "Just in places people wouldn't see it." He lowered his shirt and jacket. "Old habits die hard, I guess." Max slowly sat back down.

"I'm so sorry," Sarah told him, wanting to cry now that the cuts and bruises were etched into her mind.

"Same here," agreed Sam.

Max returned to staring at the letter opener. "When I first found out I could move things…it was a gift. My whole life, I was helpless. But now I had this. So, last week…" He took a deep breath. "Dad gets drunk. First time in a long time. And he beats me to hell."

Sarah hugged her uncle around the neck. Sam held her as Max continued.

"First time in a long time and then I knew what I had to do."

"Why didn't you just leave?" asked Sam.

"It wasn't about getting away." The letter opener dropped making Sam and Sarah both jump. "Just knowing that they'd still be out there." It rocked from side to side as Max continued. "It was about…not being afraid. When my dad used to look at me…there was hate in his eyes."

Sarah stood back up, straight and nodded. "Like it would have been better if you were never born," she told him, understanding.

He nodded in return. "And blames you for everything."

She nodded again, "Yes."

"For his job."

"Yes," Sarah repeated.

"For his life."

"Yes."

"For my mom's death."

"My aunt's death," she said.

"Why would he blame you for your mom's death?" asked Sam, confused.

Max leaned forward, his elbow on his right knee and chuckled tearfully, "Because she died in my nursery, while I was asleep in my crib." Sam and Sarah exchanged looks as he said, "As if it makes it my fault."

"She died in your nursery?" Sam asked of him.

"Yeah," he told them. "There was a fire. And he would get drunk and babble on like she died in some insane way. He said that she burned up…pinned to the ceiling."

Uncle and niece once again exchanged looks as if to say, "What the heck is going on here."

Sarah looked back at Max. "Did…have you seen a man with yellow eyes? Like in your dreams?"

Max looked at her like she was crazy. "What the hell? No, why would I see that?"

"Listen, Max," Sam changed the subject. "What your dad said about what happened to your mom…" He hesitated for a brief moment. "It's real."

This time, Max stared at Sam like he was crazy. "What?"

"It happened to my mom, too and my niece's aunt," he told him. "Exactly the same. My nursery, my crib."

"It happened at my aunt's house," Sarah added. "When she was watching me, her and my uncle. He saw her pinned to the ceiling.

"And my dad saw my mom on the ceiling, too."

"Then your dad and uncle must have been drunk as mine," Max told them.

"My uncle doesn't drink," said Sarah.

"How do you know?"

"Getting back on track, it's the same thing, Max," Sam said. "The same thing killed them."

"It's impossible," he argued.

Sam looked at his niece. "This must be why we've been having visions during the day. Why they're getting more intense. Because the three of us must be connected."

"So, this demon must have plans for you, too, Max," Sarah looked over at him.

"Demon?"

"Your abilities, they started six, seven months ago, right?" Sam asked him. "Out of the blue?"

"How'd ya know that?"

"Because that's when our abilities started, Max," he told him.

"My nightmares, actually," Sarah pointed out. "My other power started two years ago."

"Yours, Max, seem to be much further along, but still, this…This means something. Right? I mean, for some reason, you and I, and Sarah…we were chosen."

"For what?" he asked. "Whatever she said?"

"Maybe," Sam shrugged. "I don't know. But Dean, and Sarah, and I…my brother and us, we're hunting for your mom's killer and we can find answers. Answers that can help us both but you gotta let us go, Max. You gotta let your stepmother go."

"Like I let my cousin go," Sarah added.

Max sat there, staring at the floor for a long time, breathing hard. Finally, he said, "No." He was crying. "What they did to me…I still have nightmares. I'm still scared all the time, like…like I'm just waiting for that next beating." Max stood up, walking around the couch. "I'm just tired of being scared. If I do this, it will be over."

Sam and Sarah hurried over to block his way. "Don't you get it?" Sam asked of him.

"It will never be over," Sarah added. "Trust me when I say that the nightmares won't end. I still see my mom's stares in my head. I can still hear her talking to our cousin about how I forced her to quit school so she could take care of me. It won't ever be over, Max."

"It's just…more pain," Sam shook his head. "And it makes you as bad as them. Max…you don't have to go through all this by yourself."

Max stared at Sam, breathing through his nose. "I'm sorry." Suddenly, the closet door flew open and both Sam and his niece flew back, into it. The door closed and Max moved a cabinet in front of it as they banged on the door. Not only that, but the door handle flew off, too from the cabinet moving hard against it.

Sam and Sarah continued to bang on the door as Max made his way upstairs. Soon, a painful jolt went through their heads as they had another vision. Sarah dropped to her knees, holding her head in her hands.

Max wandered into the master bedroom as Dean was tending to his stepmother, kneeled in front of her. He stood up when he saw Max. The door shut behind him. Dean took a step towards Max but was knocked back, against the wall as Max pulled out Dean's gun from his own pocket.

"Max," she said as Dean tried to get to his feet again.

"Son of a…" Dean mumbled.

"No."

Max pointed the gun at Dean and removed his hand, letting it hover in mid-air like the knife before. Dean walked towards it, stopping in his tracks when the gun moved forward and cocked. Then the gun was turned to point at Max's stepmother, who shook her head, standing up.

"No, Max," she pleaded with him.

Dean tried to get between her and the gun.

"Stay back," Max told him. "It's not about you."

Dean did not budge an inch. "You want to kill her, you're gonna have to go through me first."

There was a pause then Max shot Dean clear in the forehead.

The minute Sam and Sarah saw Dean get shot they both called out for him, loudly, somehow moving the cabinet from in front of the door. Sam got his thoughts straightened and pushed on the door. It opened, freely.

Sarah didn't hesitate to ask questions, though. She burst through the door and bolted up the stairs to the master bedroom, crashing the door open. The door being thrust open knocked Max's concentration away and the bullet was shot elsewhere. "You kill my dad and that will be the last thing you ever do!"

Dean stared at his daughter in great surprise. He had never heard anything come out of her mouth like that. Where had that come from?

Sam ran up, behind his niece. "Please, Max!" he continued to plead with him. "We can help you, all right? But this…what you're doing…It's not the solution."

It won't fix anything, you dumbass!" Sarah told him.

"Sarah, not helping," Sam told his niece then returned his gaze to Max.

"Didn't you see it, Uncle Sam?" she eyed Max like a wolf on a hunt. "He's gonna kill Dad!"

"Name-calling won't help."

"No, but she's right," Max finally said.

Sam smiled, hoping they were getting through to him. Instead, Max just turned the gun on himself and dropped to the floor like a rock. "NO!" Sam shouted.

Everyone stared at Max's lifeless body for a moment before Sarah ran over and hugged her father around the legs, crying into them. It shook Dean from his own shock and he kneeled down to her level, wrapping his arms around her.

"It's over, baby girl," he assured her. "It's all over."

Sarah cried into his shoulder. "I can't lose you, Dad! I refuse to lose you! I won't ever let you die, I promise! And if it happens, I will make sure you're revenged!"

Dean stared at her then stared up at Sam. He shook his head and grabbed Sarah by her upper arms. "Sarah, look at me," he told her. "I told you, it is not your job to look out for me. I'm supposed to watch out for you."

Sarah shook his grip from her, shoving his hands away. "I don't care! When I saw Max shoot you in the head…I…I…I couldn't take it! You and Uncle Sam, you're the most important people in my entire life. You mean more to me than Mom, Mark, and even Papa and Gram have ever been." She shook her head as tears ran down both sides of her face. "You can say whatever but we're watching out for each other and not even you can stop me from protecting you."

Dean and Sam stared at Sarah, blown away by her words. Mrs. Miller was especially impressed by the little girl's outbursts. They watched as Sarah lowered her head and cried silently to herself.

Dean took his daughter into his arms again and held her close, his own tears forming in his eyes. He tried so hard to keep the cycle different but a weight was already placed on her small shoulders. If nothing else made Sarah a mini Dean, this defiantly did.

The police was called and asked Mrs. Miller questions. She lied, stating the Winchesters were family friends. When the police said they could go, Sarah walked over and gave Mrs. Miller a hug.

"It will be okay, Mrs. Miller," she told her afterwards.

Mrs. Miller sniffed back some tears. "Thank you, sweetheart."

Sarah walked over to where her father and uncle were waiting for her and the three of them left the house.

Sam let out a breath of air, "If I had just said something else…Gotten through to him somehow."

"It's my fault for calling him a dumbass." Sarah was walking between them with her hands in her sweatshirt pocket, watching her feet.

"Ah, don't do that, you two," Dean told them."

"Do what?" asked Sam.

"Torture yourselves. It wouldn't have mattered what you said. Max was too far gone."

"I'm thinking about when he looked at me, man, right before…I should have done something."

"Come on, man," said Dean. "You both risked your lives. I mean, yeah, maybe if we have gotten there twenty years earlier." Dean and Sarah split from Sam at their side of the Impala.

Sam exhaled as he walked around to his side. "I'll tell you one thing. We're lucky we had Dad."

Dean looked up at his brother when he heard him say that. "Well, I never thought I'd hear you say that."

He breathed in, deeply through his nose and let it out through his mouth. "Well, it could have gone a whole other way after Mom. A little more tequila, a little less demon hunting…then we would have had Max's childhood. All things considered…we turned out okay. Thanks to him."

Dean smirked and looked back at the Millers' house. He returned to his brother, "All things considered." He then got into the Impala, followed by Sarah.

After a moment, Sam did too and they headed back to the motel where they started loading up. "Dean, I've been thinking," he told him.

Dean carried his clothes over to his duffel bag. "Well, that's never a good thing."

"I'm serious," said Sam. "I've been thinking, why would this demon, or…whatever it is…why would it…kill Mom, and Jessica, Sarah's aunt, and Max's mother, you know? What does it want?"

"No idea," Dean said, folding his clothes before placing them inside his duffel bag.

"Well, you think maybe it was…after us? After…Max, Sarah, and me?"

Dean looked up at his brother. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, it did tell Sarah it has plans for us," Sam shrugged. "I mean…either telekinesis or premonitions…we all had abilities, you know? Uh, maybe…Maybe it is after us for some reason. Maybe there are some truths to what its telling Sarah."

Dean looked up, straight ahead for a moment before returning to his folding. "Sam, if it wanted you, it would have just taken you. Okay? This is not your fault." He told him. "It's not about you."

"Then what is it about?"

"It's about that damn thing that did this to our family. The thing we're gonna find. The thing we're gonna kill. And that's all."

Sam stood there frozen before he started packing again. "Actually, there's, uh…There's something else, too."

Dean tossed his shirt down on the bed and walked over to the desk behind him, "Oh jeez, what?"

"When Max locked Sarah and me in that closet…" Sam began.

Sarah looked up from where she was folding her clothes into her duffel bag, while sitting on the bed Dean was standing at. She looked over at her uncle, a pretty good guess where he was going with it.

"With that big cabinet against the door, uh…I moved it," Sam said, subtlety. "Or Sarah did it, or we both did it."

Dean chuckled, surprising Sarah, "One of you got a little bit more upper body strength than I gave you credit for. I was actually surprised, Sarah when you came crashing through that door like that."

"No, man…wait, what?" Sam looked over at his niece.

"Max closed and locked that door when he came in," Dean told him.

"Dean, that doesn't scare you," he asked in bewilderment. "A soon-to-be eight-year-old does not possess the strength to knock open a locked door, with her mind or her physical strength."

Dean looked back at him. "Mind?"

"Like Max…and me."

"Oh," was all he said which didn't help Sarah's nerves. "Okay." Three of them started packing again when Dean picked up a spoon. "One of you bend this."

Sam looked at him while Sarah smacked her forehead down to her hand. "We can't turn it on and off, Dean," Sam told him.

"How did you do it?" he asked.

"First time Sarah did it, we were locked in that cellar when that reverend's wife tried to kill you back in Nebraska, then when we saw you die, I don't know, it just happened, and it just came out of us. Right, Sarah?"

Dean looked over at his daughter who nodded at them.

"Like some adrenaline thing," he said

He dropped the spoon back into a bowl and walked back to the bed, "Well, I'm sure it won't happen again."

"But Dad, it's happened twice now with me," Sarah pointed out. "Three times, actually."

Dean looked up from his bag. "Three?"

She nodded, slowly. "Remember back before we got Uncle Sam from school? On that skinwalker job."

He thought back to it and finally it sunk in. "That was you, wasn't it? With that dog."

Again, she nodded.

"It seems to always be linked to when you're in danger," Sam shrugged, "when our emotions get the best of us. Aren't you worried we could turn into Max or something?"

"Nope, no way," he said as he folded his jeans. "You know why?"

"No, why?"

Dean looked over at Sarah. "How about you, baby girl, you know why?"

She shook her head at him.

"Because you both have one advantage that Max didn't have."

"Dad?" asked Sam. "Sarah has her father but ours isn't here, Dean."

"That's exactly my point," he said, putting his leather jacket on. "You _both_ have me. As long as I'm around…nothing bad is gonna happen to either of you." Dean swung his duffel bag over his right shoulder and walked towards the door. "Now then. I know what we need to do about your premonitions. I know where we need to go."

"And where's that, Dad?" asked Sarah, zipping her own duffel bag closed.

He looked back at her, "Vegas" and smiled at Sam who just scoffed before heading outside to the Impala. "What?" Dean asked him. "Come on, man." He followed after his brother. "Crab's table, we'll clean up."

Sarah laughed and stood up, hurrying passed her father, tossing her bag into the trunk before getting into the backseat. Dean watched the two of them and turned out the light, shutting the door.


	25. Chapter 25

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 25

The Winchesters were at a bar, going over another job. A man had gone missing a few nights ago and a little boy said that he had been pulled under a car and never seen again. The boy also said he heard a whining growl. When the boy's mother stated he tell the Winchesters what he was watching on TV, they weren't sure what to believe.

"So, the local police have not ruled out foul play," Sam was saying, sitting at a table as he went through the research. "Apparently, there were signs of a struggle."

Dean was playing a friendly game of darts with Sarah. He looked back at Sam, "You know, they could be right. Could be just a kidnapping." Dean faced forward, towards the dart board, aiming a dart, "maybe this isn't our kind of gig" and threw it.

"Yeah, maybe not," agreed Sam. "Except for this. Dad marked the area, Dean. Possible hunting grounds for phantom attackers."

Dean walked over to look for himself. "Why would he even do that?" he asked.

"Well, he found a lot of folklore about a dark figure that comes out at night, grabs people, then vanishes. He found this, too," Sam turned a page in John's journal. "This county has more missing persons per capita than anywhere else in the state."

"That is weird." Dean walked back to finish his turn.

"Maybe it was some kind of dog," said Sarah. "Dogs have whining growls."

"There was no sign it could have been an animal attack, Sarah," Sam told her.

"Oh," she said. "Well then, I got nothing."

"Wait, don't phantom attackers usually snatch people from their bed?" Dean realized, looking over his left shoulder. "Jenkins was taken from a parking lot."

"Well, there are all kinds, you know, Springheeled Jacks, Phantom Gassers. They take people anywhere, any time."

Dean finished his turn and let Sarah take hers as Sam continued. "Look, I don't know this is our kind of gig either."

"Yeah, you're right," he said. "We should ask around more tomorrow."

Sarah finished her shots. They were pretty good for someone her age but Dean still one that game. Dean went over and pulled them off, giving three to Sarah.

"Right," Sam agreed.

Dean started the next game.

"I saw a motel about five miles back."

Dean looked back at his brother again. "Woah, woah. Easy. Let's have another round."

"We should get an early start," Sam told him.

"You really know how to have fun, don't you, grandma?"

"First of all, you have your daughter who is a minor in a bar with a bunch of bikers when she should be in bed, by now," he pointed out to his older brother. "Should I continue?"

Dean felt defeated, knowing Sam was right. "All right." He threw his last dart at the board and grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair. "I'll meet you outside. I need to take a leak. Need to use to use the restroom before we go, Sarah?"

Sarah tossed a dart at the board before looking up at her father. "Nope," she shook her head.

"Go with Sam, then. Okay?" he told her and walked away, towards the restrooms.

Sarah tossed the other two darts, one at a time at the board and followed her uncle out of the bar. The two of them walked through the parking lot as biker men came and went.

"I want a motorcycle when I'm older," Sarah stated, looking around at the motorcycles.

Sam looked down at his niece. "You want to be a biker chick?"

"Yeah," she replied, excited. "I can be a biker hunter or something. Cruising around, fighting ghosts and stuff from the back of it." Sarah made like she was riding on a motorcycle, making the noise with her mouth.

"Don't you want to go to college, become a doctor or something? Start your own family?"

She shrugged, "I hate shots and everything else sounds too plain."

Sam stared at her. "Too plain?"

"Yeah."

Sam looked away, sadly. He really did want his niece to do other things besides hunting. Joining the circus was better than this life. A weird feeling came over him and it felt like someone was there. Sam placed his father's journal on the trunk of the Impala and took out his flashlight from his jacket pocket, shining it around.

"What is it, Uncle Sam?" Sarah asked, quietly.

Sam put his finger to his mouth and kneeled onto the ground to look underneath. Sarah did, too, curious. They moved in closer until suddenly, a cat swiped at them, scaring the crap out of them both before it ran away.

The two of them broke into a laugh, together. "You got scared of a cat, Uncle Sammy," Sarah snickered.

They stood up. "So did you," he pointed out to her, laughing.

Sarah folded her arms across her chest. "Did not. It just surprised me, that's all."

"Oh sure," he grinned. Suddenly, Sam was yanked to the ground and was pulled under the Impala. Sarah tried to pull him back by his arm but whoever was on the other end was a lot stronger, and grabbed both of them, knocking them out.

Dean finally came out of the bar, himself and walked over to the Impala. However, Sam and Sarah were nowhere in sight with John's journal still where Sam left it. He looked in the car but it was empty. Dean frantically looked around the parking lot. He was alone.

Dean ran over to where some people were coming out of the bar. "Hey. Hey," he asked one biker couple. "You guys been outside, round here in, like the last hour or so?"

They shook their heads and continued walking.

Dean continued looking for his little brother and daughter, growing more and more worried. This could not be happening to him. Where were they? "Sam! Sarah!" He looked around some more. "Sarah! Sammy!" He walked around the parking lot, trying to spot them when he noticed a surveillance camera and walked out to the middle of the street to see if he could spot anything like a car or something. "Sam. Sarah," he said, quietly.

First thing, the next morning, Dean headed to the police station.

"So, what can I do for you, Officer Washington?" a policewoman asked him as she examined his fake badge.

"I'm working a missing persons," he told her.

She shrugged, "I didn't know the Jenkins case was being covered by the state police."

Dean shook his head. "Uh, no. No, this is someone else. Actually, it's my cousin and his niece. We, as in my cousin and I were having a few last night at this bar down by the highway, and I haven't seen him since and his niece is gone, too."

"Does your cousin have a drinking problem?"

"Sam?" Dean scoffed. "Two beers and he's doing karaoke. He wasn't drunk. He was…taken. They…both were."

She looked at him, "Was his niece with you?"

"Yeah, but she wasn't drinking, herself. Unless you count root beer," he smirked.

"How did you sneak a minor into a bar?"

He shrugged, "They didn't seem to care all that much."

The policewoman nodded and walked back to her desk, "All right. What's their names?"

"Winchester," Dean replied. "Sam and Sarah Winchester."

"Like the rifle?" she asked, sitting down.

Dean sat next to her desk, "Like the rifle."

The policewoman typed in Sam's name into the box on the computer screen and both his and Dean's names popped up. "Samuel Winchester," she said, reading the screen. So you know that his brother Dean Winchester died in St. Louis…and, uh, was suspected of murder?"

"Yeah, Dean," he chuckled to himself. "Kind of the black sheep of the family. Handsome, though."

The policewoman started typing again. "Well, Sam or his niece isn't showing up in any current field reports."

"Oh, I already have a lead. I saw a surveillance camera out by the highway."

"Uh-huh. County traffic cam?" she asked.

"Right, yeah. I'm thinking the camera picked up whatever took them." She stared at Dean. "Or whoever," he quickly said.

She breathed in through her nose. "Well, I have access to the traffic cam footage down at the County Works Department. But in the meantime, let's do this the right way." The policewoman stood up and walked back to receive a missing person's form, handing it to Dean who stood up.

Dean looked down at it. "Officer, look, uh…they're both family. I kind of look out for the kids. You gotta let me go with ya."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that," she told him.

Dean looked back down, "Well, tell me something." He looked up again. "Your county has its fair share of missing persons. Any of 'em come back?"

The policewoman didn't answer to that.

"Both Sam and Sarah are my responsibility," he continued, "and they're coming back. I'm bringing them back." That still didn't change the policewoman's mind and Dean ended up having to wait while she went to check the traffic cam footage.

Meanwhile, Sam woke up, gasping. He looked around and saw he was in a small cage. It was dark with minor light overhead. Sam sat up and noticed Sarah was lying next to him, still asleep. Or he hoped she was just asleep.

He got up, onto his legs and shook her awake. "Sarah. Please wake up, Sarah." There was panic and worry apparent in his voice. Sarah stirred, moaning just a little. Sam blew a sigh of relief. "You okay, peanut?"

Sarah slowly pushed herself up, onto her hands and knees to sit back on her legs. She looked around, trying to pierce through the darkness. "Where are we, Uncle Sam?" she asked, groggily.

Sam was looking around now, as well, "I don't know." He tried to stand up, but was too tall for the cage and to stand hunched over.

Sarah stood up, too but didn't have to hunch over. She went over to the bars and peered over at another cage. "Uncle Sam, I think someone's in there," she looked back at her uncle. "Maybe it's Mister Jenkins."

Sam walked over to stand beside her. He looked out, holding onto the bars. Over in another cage similar to the one they were in was an older man lying on the ground, asleep. Sam moved to get a closer look.

"Uncle Sammy, are we gonna die?"

He looked back at his niece and saw a terrified look on her face. Sam turned his whole body to fully face her. "Look at me, Sarah," he tried sounding like his brother when Dean was assuring her. "Your dad is still out there. He'll find us. In the meantime, we have to be brave and do our part. Okay?"

She nodded at him and Sam dropped to one of his knees to pull her into a comforting hug. "I hope Dad finds us soon," she said from his right shoulder.

"Me, too, peanut," he said.

Dean was waiting on a park bench when the policewoman walked up. She handed him some black and white-printed pictures of the night before. "These traffic cams take an image every three seconds. It's part of the Amber Alert program. These images were all taken around the time that your cousins disappeared," she told him as Dean flipped through the pictures.

"Uh, this really isn't what I'm looking for," he said.

"Just wait. Next one."

Dean turned the page once more to a picture of an old trailer.

"This one was taken right after Sam and Sarah left the bar. Look at the back end of that thing."

Dean glanced up her.

"Now, look at the plates," she continued.

He shrugged, "The plates look new. It was probably stolen."

"So, whoever's driving that rust bucket must be involved."

A black van drove by, behind them making a horrible screeching sound. Almost like…a whining growl and Dean realized it.

Sam was busy, trying to bust him and his niece out, using his feet. It was no use though, the bars were hard metal. He dropped to the ground, worn out. Sarah caught him from behind so he wouldn't fall back.

"Don't you have your phone, Uncle Sam?" she asked.

Sam sat there, leaning on his left hand. "No, whatever grabbed us took it."

Sarah squeezed by him and sat in his lap, snuggling into his chest. "I'm really trying to be brave, honest."

He hugged her to him with one arm, placing his chin on top of her head. "I know you are."

Suddenly, they heard movement and groans coming from the other cage. Sam and Sarah looked up to see the man sitting up, slowly. "You're alive?" Sam asked.

He groaned again. "Huh?"

"You okay?"

"Does it look like I'm doing okay?" the man asked.

"Where are we?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. Country, I think. Smells like the country."

"Are you Mister Jenkins?" Sarah asked the man.

"Yeah," he replied.

Sam laughed to himself. "Wow. We were looking for ya."

"Oh, yeah? Well, no offence, but this is a piss-poor rescue."

"My dad's out there and he'll save us." Sarah hoped that saying that out loud would help keep her assurance up. She really did want to believe that her father will get there in time to save them.

"So he's not gonna find us," said Jenkins.

"No, he will," she argued with him. "My dad is the best in the whole wide world and strong and brave."

"Kid, we're in the middle of nowhere…waiting for them to come back and do God-knows-what to us."

"What are they?" Sam asked him, getting up onto his feet in a squatting position. "Have you seen them?"

"What are you talking about?" Jenkins asked him.

"What grabbed us," he said. "How do they look?"

Just then, the door opened.

"See for yourself."

Sam looked over as a couple hooded figures came into the room where the three prisoners were being held. Sarah grabbed onto her uncle's neck as they watched them unlock Jenkins' cage from a lockbox. One of the hooded figures walked over to his cage and set a plate of food inside. When the other one banged on Sam and Sarah's cage with a blunt instrument, Sam fell back. Sarah continued to cling to his neck with her face buried his neck, shaking from fright.

"I'll be damned," Sam told himself when the hooded figures left. "They're just people."

"Yeah," said Jenkins, eating, "what did you expect?"

"How often do they feed you?"

"Once a day. They use that over there to open the cage," he explained.

Sam looked over at the lockbox. "And that's the only time you see 'em?"

"So far but I'm waiting."

Sam pushed his niece off of him to move to the other side of the cage. "Waiting for what?"

"Ned Beatty time, man," Jenkins replied.

"Who's he?" asked Sarah, sitting on her legs.

"Never mind, peanut," Sam told her. "That's the least of our worries right now."

"What do you think they want then?" Jenkins asked Sam.

Sam reached up, through the bars for a metal pipe. "Depends on who they are."

"They're a bunch of psycho hillbilly rednecks, if ya ask me…looking for love in all the wrong places."

Sam was pulling on the metal pipe by now.

"What are you doing, Uncle Sam?" Sarah asked, watching him.

Sam did not answer. He was too focused on pulling down the pipe. Sarah crawled over to a far corner of the cage and sat down, flat on her bottom. She brought her knees up and hugged them to her. She shivered from the cold. They had taken her sweatshirt and Sam's jacket which kind of sucked to her considering that was the only one she had at all. Sarah didn't even own a jacket. It had always been the same black sweatshirt for two years now. It had started out a little big on her and now that it fit her right, some messed-up humans with a sick mind takes it.

Sarah felt a tear and quickly wiped it away. She couldn't cry. She had to stay strong, like a big girl. Hunters were brave. There was no room for tears. As Sarah thought about never seeing her father, though, she couldn't help but let another one slide down her right cheek.


	26. Chapter 26

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 26

The police car soared down the country road in the quiet of the night. Dean sat there in the passenger seat, thinking about his brother and daughter. He had to get them back. There was no arguing or questioning that fact. Nothing was going to stand in his way. Dean thought about how scared his daughter probably was and hoped wherever they were, she and Sam were together. Thoughts of the last year crossed his mind since he and Sarah met. Every now and then, he would crack a grin, getting a look from the policewoman.

He couldn't help think of the many, many wisecracks Sarah had said, so far and all the things she had done that just put a smile on Dean's face. He could admit it now, how hilarious it was when Sarah and Sam first met. How a little kid could bring someone as tall as Sam to his knees, in agonizing pain, tickled him to no end. Hopefully when they find John, though, it won't be dark. John probably won't be easily forgiving as Sam was if Sarah punched him in that area.

Dean also remembered all the times Sarah had come through for him. She doesn't question an order like she used to or fight him when he tells her to go with Sam when they split up on a hunt. No matter what it was, Sarah was always willing to do it. If she was still scared, she hid it well as far as Dean was concerned.

The policewoman interrupted his thoughts. "Okay, the next traffic cam…is fifty miles from here, and your pickup didn't pass that one. So…"

"So it must have pulled off somewhere," he concluded. "I don't see any other roads here."

"Well, a lot of these backwards properties have their own private roads," she explained as she drove, focused on the road.

"Great," he mumbled.

The computer in between them beeped and the policewoman looked at it while switching back and forth with the road. "So, Gregory," she said, afterwards.

Dean glanced at her for a second before he returned to keeping a look out for a turnoff, "Yeah."

"I ran your badge number. It's routine when we're working a case with state police for accounting purposes and what have you."

Dean nodded, "Mm-hm."

"And, uh…they just got back to me." She pulled over to the side of the road. "Says here your badge was stolen and there's a…" the policewoman turned the monitor so Dean could see it. "A picture of you."

Dean stared at a picture of an African-American, male that didn't have any hair and wearing an officer's uniform. "I lost some weight, and I got that Michael Jackson skin disease…"

The policewoman stopped him there and undid her seatbelt. "Okay. Would you step out of the car, please?"

"Look, look, look," Dean tried to stop her. "You wanna arrest me, that's fine. I'll cooperate, I swear. But please… Let me find Sam and Sarah."

She shook her head, "I don't even know who you are. Or if these people are missing."

"Look into my eyes and tell me if I'm lying about this."

"Identity theft? You're impersonating an officer."

Dean looked away for a brief moment then tried to explain to her, his reasons. "Here's the thing. When Sam and I…when we were young, I pretty much pulled him from a fire. And Sarah…I'm pretty much a father to her. Since the fire and meeting Sarah, I felt responsible for them. You know, like it's…it's my job to keep them safe."

The policewoman looked ahead.

"I'm just afraid if we don't find them fast…" Thunder crashed from outside. "Please. They're my family."

She was shaking her head. "I'm sorry. You've given me no choice. I have to take you in." The policewoman glanced up at a picture of her and a young man and sighed. She put her seatbelt back on. "After we find Sam and Sarah Winchester."

Meanwhile, Sam was still busy trying to yank down the metal pipe. Sarah was lying on her back now, with her feet up on the side of the cage.

Jenkins watched every now and then. "What was your name again?" he asked.

Sarah looked over at the man, "Who?"

"The guy."

"It's Sam," Sam told him, grunting.

"Why don't you give it up, Sammy," he told Sam. "There's no way out."

"Don't…c-call me…Sammy." With the anger from being called Sammy, Sam was finally able to yank the pipe down, along with some dust and a bracket that clanged onto the ground. Both Sam and his niece coughed. Sarah shot up into a sitting position, trying to clear her airways. "Sorry, peanut," he apologized when he stopped.

"What was that supposed to prove, Uncle Sam?" she asked after she finished coughing, too.

Sam picked up the bracket and examined it.

Jenkins asked, "What is it?"

"It's a bracket," Sam replied.

"Oh, thank God, a bracket," he shrugged, sarcastically. "Now we got'em, huh?"

Sarah glared over at him. "Dude, you're lucky we're in separate cages, 'cause I'd kick ya in the shines."

"Sarah, be nice," Sam scolded her, still examining it. They looked up when they heard a sound and Jenkins' cage opened.

Jenkins moved, slowly towards it. "Must have been a short. Maybe you knocked something loose."

Both Sam and Sarah watched as he climbed out. "I think you should get back in there, Jenkins," Sam told the guy.

"What?" he asked.

"This isn't right."

Jenkins looked around. "Don't you wanna get out of here?"

"Yeah, but that was too easy."

"Look, I'm gonna get outta here. I'm gonna send help, okay? Don't worry," he assured them.

"No, I'm serious," Sam tried to warn him. "This might be a trap."

"Bye, Sammy." With that, he was gone.

Sarah shook her head, staring at the door Jenkins left through. "He won't send help." She looked at her uncle, "I've seen the movies. We're basically screwed."

Sam stared back at her. "Do you even know what that word means?" he asked her.

"No, I heard it on TV, once but we are screwed."

"Okay. Enough, Sarah." Sam rolled his eyes. It was like having two Deans to him.

Soon, they both heard screams and knew it had belonged to Jenkins. Sarah immediately jumped on her uncle and this time, she did not want to let go. Sam wasn't expecting it, either so he fell back, managing to catch himself on his hands. He felt Sarah starting to shake from fright and could also feel something wet soaking the front of his shirt.

Sam sat up and wrapped both arms around her. "Shh, shh," he said, gently. "It's gonna be fine, Sarah. I promise we will get out of here." Sam rubbed her back, up and down, trying to comfort her. Where ever Dean was, Sam hoped he was closing in on finding them.

In fact, Dean was closing in. The next day, after they got some coffee, he and the policewoman drove down the road again, still looking for a turnoff. Dean spotted one and told her to pull over. He tried to go with her, stating she wasn't going alone, but the policewoman wouldn't have any of it and handcuffed him to her police car.

Before Sam and Sarah knew it, they already had another cell mate.

"You think she's alive, Uncle Sam?" Sarah asked, trying to get a good look at her when the hooded figures were gone again.

"I don't think they would bring her in here if she wasn't," he told her, sitting with his back to the cage.

Sarah crawled over and sat beside him, laying her head against him. "Maybe they don't know she's dead. I think if you whack someone hard enough, you can kill them," she looked up at Sam.

"Yeah, but they probably also checked to make sure."

"Oh," was her only response before Sarah left it at that. Sam wrapped his right arm around her and rubbed her upper, right arm. His other arm was hung over his left, up-turned knee.

When some time had passed, the policewoman stirred.

Sarah looked over at her, then at her uncle. "I think she's waking up," she said.

Sam looked over at the other cage, too. "You all right?" he asked the policewoman.

There was a moment of silence as she leaned forward. "Are you Sam Winchester?" the policewoman asked him. "Aren't you?"

"Yeah," he replied.

She then happened to notice Sarah, who was crawling back over to the side of the cage. "So you must be Sarah Winchester."

Sarah nodded at her, holding onto the bars, "Uh huh."

"Your, uh…Your cousin's looking for you."

Sarah looked back at Sam, who was smiling, shaking his head at the ground. She looked back at the policewoman. "My cousin, Mark?" she asked her, confused.

Sam leaned over, on his right hand to whisper, "She means your dad. Remember St. Louis? The shapeshifter turning into him?"

She nodded at him, still holding onto the bars.

"Your dad is supposed to be dead," he explained. "So, he pretended to be our cousin."

"Oh, okay," Sarah understood. She looked back at the policewoman. "Where he now?"

"I, uh," she replied, holding her head. "I cuffed him to my car.

Sam let out a sigh as Sarah asked, "Why?"

The policewoman was about to answer when the door opened. Sarah, thinking it was them again, crawled back over to Sam.

"Do you think they're coming to kill us now, Uncle Sam?" she asked, huddled up against him.

Sam watched the door. He put his finger to his mouth and got on his guard. He heard heavy footsteps coming towards the cages. Sarah covered her mouth, trying to stifle her breathing as her heart beat fast as she held a handful of her uncle's shirt. When the footsteps got closer, she hid her face in Sam's side.

"Sam?" She heard her father's voice ask. Sarah looked up to see her father standing there, looking inside the cage. "Sarah?"

Sarah literally leaped to her feet and ran over to the side of the cage. "Daddy!" she blurted out. Sarah reached her right hand through the bars and Dean took ahold of it.

"Hey there, baby girl," he replied before he let go. "Are any of you hurt?"

She shook her head. "No, we're both fine."

He hit the top of the cage with his other hand. "Damn it's good to see you two."

"Same here," Sarah smiled at him.

"How did you get out of the cuffs?" the policewoman asked, making Dean jump back.

"Oh, I know a trick or two," he told her before he swung around, looking at the lockbox. "All right. Ohh…" he said when he noticed it was locked. "These locks look like they're gonna be a bitch."

Sam was sitting next to where Sarah was standing. "Well, there's some kind of automatic control right there," he told his brother, pointing out of the cage.

"Have you seen'em?"

"Yeah," he replied as Sarah nodded. "Dude, they're just people."

"And they jumped you?" Dean questioned him. "Must be getting a little rusty there, kiddo." He walked away. "What do they want?"

Sam shrugged, "I don't know. They let Jenkins go, but that was some sort of trap. It doesn't make any sense to me."

Dean was repeatedly pushing a button. "Yeah, well, that's the point. You know, with our…" he looked over at the policewoman then back at Sam and Sarah. "Our usual playmates, there's…There's rules, there's patterns. But with people…They're just crazy."

"See anything else out there?" he asked.

"Uh, there's about a dozen junked cars hidden out back, plates from all over. So I'm thinking when they take someone, they take their car, too."

"Did you see a black Mustang out there?" the policewoman asked him. "About ten years old?"

Dean looked down at her. "Yeah, actually I did…Your brother's."

She looked away, sadly.

"I'm sorry."

Sarah looked at her uncle, who shrugged.

"Let's get you guys out of here and then we'll take care of those bastards. You said this thing takes a key? Key?"

"I-I don't know," Sam told him.

"All right, I better go find it." Dean headed for the door when Sarah called out to him. "I'll be right back. I will get you out of there, I promise." He then left as she and Sam told him to be careful.

"I thought he was your cousin," the policewoman said when Dean was gone.

Sam looked at her, confused. "He is. Why?"

"Your niece called him, Daddy when she saw him."

"Well, Sarah hardly knew her real father and my cousin's pretty much has been around and took care of her like a dad so Sarah just considers him, her dad. Right, Sarah?" Sam explained, coming up with the lie on the spot.

"Huh? Oh yeah, right," she agreed.

Dean went in search for the key to the cages, finding some very disturbing stuff. When he found a key, he ended up getting caught by a thirteen-year old girl who stabbed him with a pocket knife and called for her father. Dean was then surrounded by two other guys. After putting up a fight, Dean was whacked on the back of the head with a frying pan.

When he came to, Dean was tied to a chair. The sick, human family surrounding him.

"This one's a fighter," one of the two younger guys said. "Sure would be fun to hunt."

Dean looked up at them. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me. That's what this is about. You…you yahoos hunt people?"

"You ever killed before?" the oldest man asked him.

"W…" He chuckled to himself. "Well, depends on what you mean."

"I've hunted all my life," the old man said. "Just like my father, his before him. I've hunted deer and bear. I even got a cougar, once. Oh, boy. But the best hunt…is human." He nodded. "Oh, there's nothing like it. Holding their life in your hands, seeing the fear in their eyes just before they go dark. Makes you feel powerful alive."

Dean just stared at him. "You're a sick puppy."

At that, the old man stood up. "You give'em a weapon. Give'em a fighting chance. It's kind of like…our tradition, passed down father to son. Course, only one or two a year. Never enough to bring the law down. We never been that sloppy."

"Oh," Dean moaned. "Yeah, well, don't sell yourself short. You're plenty sloppy."

He squatted down to Dean's level. "So, what, you with that pretty cop?"

Dean did not respond.

"You a cop?"

Dean chuckled this time, "If I tell you, you promise not to make me into an ashtray?"

One of the younger guys hurried over and slapped him in the face.

"Only reason I don't let my boys take you right here and now is that there's something I need to know."

"Yeah, how 'bout it's not nice to marry your sister?" Dean asked, sarcastically as the old guy was behind him, getting a hot, metal stick.

"Tell me," he said, examining the stick, "any other cops gonna come looking for you?"

"Ah, eat me," Dean told him off then realized what he had said. "No, no, no, wait. You actually might."

The old man then brought the stick to him and told Dean to choose an "animal" to hunt. After burning him, and almost his eye, Dean picked Sam and Sarah. He knew they would have more of a chance for survival. Unfortunately, the man told his son to shoot them in the cage.

Dean was outraged when he heard that. "I thought you said you were gonna hunt them. You were gonna give them a chance."

"Lee, when you're done with the kids," he told his son. "Shoot the bitch, too."

The guy, Lee nodded grabbing his gun and headed down to where the policewoman, Sam, and Sarah were. He walked over to the lockbox and unlocked Sam and Sarah's cage.

"What are you doing?" Sam demanded of him as his niece clung to him.

Lee went over to their cage and raised his shotgun at them as Sam now stood in a squatting position. Sarah moved behind him to hide as Sam tossed the metal thing that held the pipe on, at him as he fired.

Dean tensed up when he heard it. "If you hurt my family, I'll kill you, I swear," he told them. "I'll kill you all. I will kill you all!"

The old man stood up and wandered over to call out to Lee but there was no answer. Lee was a little preoccupied at the moment struggling with Sam. Sam grabbed his gun and knocked him out with it. He tried to cock it but it jammed so he dropped it and walked away.

Sam let the policewoman out and cut the power as well. Sarah quickly pinned to his side. "What do we do, Uncle Sam?" she asked him.

He hushed her and led her over to hide until the old guy and the other young guy came in, also with shotguns.

"Damn it. Jared, get the lights," the old guy ordered.

Jared tried to turn them on but the lights wouldn't come on. Sam and Sarah hid back, up in the loft, behind some hay. Soon, they heard footsteps coming up the ladder, followed by gunshots.

Sam poked his head up to see the policewoman fighting with Jared. The old guy shot at him. He ducked down and ran, dodging each bullet. Sarah went the other way and rammed into him, grabbing the gun when the old man lowered it.

Sarah yanked it out of his hands and kicked him in the back of the knee, bringing him down. She cocked the shotgun and pointed it at him.

He grinned, toying with her, "You gonna shoot me, kid?"

"You tried to shoot my uncle Sammy," she told him, angrily.

Suddenly, Sam came up behind the old man and knocked him in the head, knocking him over the edge, right on top of Jared, who was standing over the policewoman. Sam took the shotgun from his niece before heading back down. The policewoman offered to stay with the men while they went and helped Dean.

Sarah ran ahead, up to the house as Sam followed close behind. She bolted into the room where her father was and tackled the other girl to the floor while Sam hurried over to Dean. Sarah managed to get the girl's knife from her, with difficulty and tossed it to Sam, where he used it to cut Dean free. The three of them then managed to lock the girl in a closet.

The Winchesters met the policewoman outside.

"Where's the girl?" she asked them.

"Locked in the closet," Dean answered. "What about the dad?"

She looked between them. "Shot. Trying to escape."

Dean looked over at his brother. He knew the real reason she shot him. If anything had happened to Sam or Sarah, he would have done the same thing. Sam looked back at him, too, also knowing the real reason. Of course, the old man was bound to die, anyway, considering he fell from a high place.

They went in search of their stuff. Sarah was relieved to find her sweatshirt, hugging it to her. Dean realized his car was still at the police station.

"So…" the policewoman told them. "State police and the FBI are gonna be here within the hour. They're gonna want to talk to you. I suggest that you're all long gone by then."

Dean thanked her as Sam nodded. "Hey, I don't mean to press our luck, but we're kind of in the middle of nowhere. Think we could catch a ride?" Dean asked of her.

"Start walking," she told him. "Duck if you see a squad car."

"Sounds great to me," said Sam as Sarah moaned at the thought of walking. "Thanks." He then started walking.

"Listen, uh," said Dean. "I'm sorry about your brother."

She smiled, nodding at him. "Thank you." The policewoman looked at the house then back at him. "It was really hard not knowing what happened to him. I thought it would be easier once I knew the truth. But…" She shook her head. "It isn't, really."

Dean looked at Sam, then back at her.

"Anyway, you should go."

The Winchesters started walking towards the main road.

"Don't ever do that again," Dean told Sam and Sarah. "Both of you."

Sarah looked up at her father. "Do what, Dad?" she asked him.

"Go missing like that."

Sam chuckled, "You were worried about us."

"All I'm saying is, you vanish like that again, I'm not looking for you."

Sarah smiled at her father, "Yes, you would."

"Nope," he shook his head. "Next time, you're on your own."

"So, you got sidelined by a thirteen-year-old girl, huh?" Sam teased his brother.

"Oh, shut up," Dean told him.

"Just saying, you're getting rusty there, kiddo."

He laughed, "Shut up."

All three of them laughed together as they walked down the road.


	27. Chapter 27

**This isn't an episode but I wanted to include this, anyway. Please let me know what you think. **

**The next episode will continue next chapter.**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 27

Dean stood there, staring at the large Wal-Mart logo above the main doors. He couldn't believe he was going to step foot inside one but he didn't know where else to go in this city. People were coming and going, mostly families, through the entrance and exit automatic doors. Dean took a deep breath. This was the kind of place soccer moms went to and he was no soccer mom. This was for his daughter, though so he sucked it up and stepped up to the entrance door. It opened as he walked through.

A teenaged boy, with some acne on his face offered him a cart as he greeted him. Dean accepted it as he thanked the boy. He pushed the cart, trying not to look anyone in the face as he walked through the aisles. Soon, he found the party aisle and turned down it, looking at different party themes. There was _Superman_, _Spiderman_, _Spongebob Squarepants_, _Dora, the Explorer_, and _Disney's Cars_, to name a few.

"Sarah does like that yellow sponge dude," he shrugged. Dean was about to start loading the _Spongebob Squarepants _party set inside the cart when something else caught his eye at the end of the aisle. He walked over to the end, with his hands in his pockets and removed a pack of paper plates off the rack to look at it closer. Dean recognized Pikachu from Sarah's T-shirts and the sticker on the back of her PSP. Every now and then, Sarah would catch it on the TV in a motel they was staying in and try and talk Dean into watching it with her. Dean hated to admit it, but the cartoon wasn't that bad to him. He wouldn't watch it on his own, though.

Dean pulled the cart over and loaded it up of the _Pokémon _party stuff and headed for the toy section and looked around for a gift, staying away from the dolls and princess section. He knew Sarah wouldn't want a doll. It took some time finding the perfect gift since Dean didn't want to get his daughter just anything. He wanted to put a lot of thought into it.

After searching for forty-five minutes, trying to decide, Dean found a remote-controlled helicopter. It looked cool to him and he thought Sarah might like it so he decided to get it for her. Next, he headed over to the bakery and ordered a cake that said, _Happy 8__th__ Birthday, Sarah _on it in red frosting.

Finally, Dean headed up to the cashiers and got in line behind a young mother that looked like she was at her wit's end, with three kids, all inside the cart, surrounded by food. He offered to help her unload it onto the conveyor belt as well as placing them back in the cart once the cashier scanned and bagged them. When she thanked him and left, Dean walked over to the cashier as she started scanning his items.

"Kid's birthday party, I see?" she smiled at him as Dean got his wallet out and continued scanning.

"Uh, yeah," he replied, opening his wallet up. "My little girl's turning eight today."

"Oh, congratulations. Your daughter is lucky to have a dad like you."

Dean started loading the bags inside the carts as he thanked her. He paid for everything with money he saved up from hustling pool and left the store, crossing the parking lot to where he parked the Impala and began loading everything into the trunk.

Back at the motel, he closed the curtains and locked the door and began decorating the room. Dean hung the streamers and blew up all thirty balloons by himself, trying not to get lightheaded in the process, taking several breaths. Once the room was finished, he wrapped the remote-controlled helicopter before ordering pizza and calling Sam to tell him they could come back.

Sam and Sarah walked along the sidewalk. "So, what would you like to do, peanut?" Sam asked his niece. "We have at least two hours to kill."

Sarah looked around as she walked. When they turned the corner, she noticed there was a petting zoo with about a dozen farm animals inside a fence with people petting and feeding them. "Can we go pet the animals, Uncle Sam?" she asked.

Sam looked over at the petting zoo. "Ah, don't you want to do something…I don't know, maybe cleaner?"

She pointed out at several hand sanitizer dispensers. So, Sam agreed to take her over there. He stood at the fence, leaning on the top railing as he watched Sarah pet and feed goats, donkeys, sheep, pigs, and lambs.

"Come on, Uncle Sam," she called over to him as she was petting a tiny lamb.

Sam smiled, "I'm having too much fun watching you, peanut."

Sarah stood up, crossing her arms and gave her uncle a look that said, "Are you kidding me?" She walked over to the fence where he was standing. "Uncle Sam, I'm not trying to sound like a spoiled brat, here but I want you to have fun, too. Now get in here or I'll tell Dad you were the one who ate the last slice of pie we had that one time."

Sam squinted at her. "You wouldn't," he told her.

She grinned her crooked smile. "Try me, Sammy boy."

Sam climbed through the fence, into the arena. Sarah handed him some food as the same tiny lamb wandered over to them. Sam kneeled in the dirt and held his hand out to the lamb and petted it as it started to eat out of his other hand.

"Hi there," he told the lamb, gently. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

"Uncle Sam."

"Hm?" he acknowledged her as he watched the lamb.

"You're kneeling in poop."

"What?" Sam leaped to his feet, scaring the little lamb as it scurried away. He looked down at his pant leg, disgusted and moaned. "This is why I didn't want to come in here."

Sarah just snickered. "You know you're having fun."

Sam looked at his niece and couldn't help laugh, too. For the next forty-five minutes, the two of them interacted with the animals before leaving. Once they disinfected their hands, Sam suggested they get ice cream next. Crossing the street, they headed over the ice cream place.

Sarah stared through the glass trying to decide which ice cream flavor she wanted. She ended up choosing chocolate fudge with rainbow sprinkles in a waffle bowl while Sam got strawberry with M&Ms in a one-sized smaller waffle bowl. They sat at a table and enjoyed their ice cream.

It was quiet for a few minutes as Sarah started breaking off the waffle cone and dipped it in the ice cream. "Uncle Sam," she broke the silence.

"Yeah, peanut?" he replied, scraping what was left in his.

"I'm glad I have you and Dad."

Sam smiled at his niece. He took the last bite and dropped the spoon inside the waffle bowl before pushing it away and leaned on his arms. "Sarah, I want to let you know how much I really appreciate having you as my niece. When I see you and my brother together, it brightens my day to see him happy. In all the years, I never have seen him as happy as he is with you, that I can remember."

"Dad wasn't happy before he met me?" she asked, confused.

"No, no, he was. It's just…you have changed him in ways I never would have imagined. The way I see you guys wrestle. The way you guys laugh and mess around. I mean, sure we had those moments but it was different. Now, I feel your dad finally cares about life other than hunting, drinking, and girls."

"But I am a girl," Sarah pointed out.

"I mean grown up girls and how he interacts…with them." Sam tried to explain how Dean hooked up with girls without having to mention sex.

"So, Dad's different because of me?"

Sam nodded, "Kind of, yeah. The way he plays with you, and cuddles with you, and all of that, I never would have expected it from him. And because of that, I have never been more proud of my brother."

Sarah smiled at that. "My dad's the best."

He smiled, too. "Yes he is, peanut."

After the ice cream, Sam took his niece to the nearby park where he actually saw her interact with other kids. Sam wasn't too sure of the game considering they were calling it war but at least he heard her laugh and be a regular kid.

After an hour, Dean finally called and said they could return to the motel. Sam called out to his niece, telling her it was time to leave. She moaned at that which hurt him to have to pull her away. In fact, Sam gave her ten more minutes before they really did have to leave.

They walked back to the motel where Sam opened the door, letting Sarah in first. The minute she stepped in the door both brothers shouted surprise to her. Sarah's eyes widen as she looked around at the _Pokémon _decorations and the different colored balloons scattered everywhere. She ran over to her father who scooped her up in his arms and kissed her cheek.

"Happy birthday, baby girl," he told her.

Sarah looked at him and smiled. "Thanks, Dad."

"Are you hungry? I got pizza for us."

"Oh yeah!" she replied, excited.

Dean set her down as Sam removed the plastic from the _Pokémon_ plates. Dean opened the box of a half pepperoni and jalapeno pizza, his and Sarah's favorite and Sam handed him and Sarah each a plate before taking one for himself. Each of them took a slice. The other half was a supreme pizza for Sam.

They sat at the small table and ate.

"Did you have fun with Sam?" Dean asked his daughter as they ate.

"Yeah, we went to the petting zoo first where Uncle Sam kneeled in poop," she told him.

Dean laughed when he heard that.

Sam glared at his brother. "Ha ha, glad you find it hilarious, Dean."

Dean went for a second slice. "So what else?"

"We got ice cream and I played at the park," Sarah said.

"Awesome, kiddo. Sounds like you had a fun birthday, huh," he smiled at her.

She nodded. "You surprised me, too, Dad."

"I did, huh. You weren't expecting it at all?"

Sarah shook her head. "Uncle Sam said we couldn't have my birthday, remember? That's why I stopped counting down."

"Well yeah, but then I said we would try to have something for your birthday," he shrugged.

"Can I call Grandpa to tell him it's my birthday? Maybe he'll answer then."

"I doubt it, Sarah," Sam burst her bubble. "If he didn't call back when your dad was dying, then he won't call for your birthday."

At that moment, Dean's cellphone rang from the nightstand. Dean wiped his hands on a _Pokémon _napkin and went over to answer it. He was surprised when he saw the screen and quickly flipped it open and a text message opened up.

"It's a text from Dad," he told his brother and daughter.

Sam stood up, fast. "What does it say?" he asked, hopeful.

"It says, tell Sarah happy birthday for me," he read.

Sam stared at him, surprised. "Seriously?"

Dean walked over and showed him the text message. Sure enough, it was a message from John for Sarah. Both brothers were in complete shock. John had not tried to contact them since Sarah had talked to him and Sam took off to find him. Now, out of the blue he texts Dean.

"But how does Dad even know its Sarah's birthday, anyway?" asked Sam.

Dean shrugged, sitting down. "Beats me," he shrugged. "Well, he was the one Sarah's other grandfather got ahold of in the first place. Maybe they chatted a bit about her and her birthday came up somehow."

Sarah was sitting on the edge of her chair, leaning back against the back of it. "I can't wait 'til I meet Grandpa so I can thank him," she said.

Dean looked over at her. "I can't wait until you meet him, too," he told her. "You done eating?"

She shook her head, "I want another slice." Sarah reached over and grabbed another slice of pepperoni and jalapeno pizza.

After most of the pizza was gone, Dean got out the cake and removed the lid. Sam opened the box of birthday candles and placed eight of them on top of the cake as Dean checked his pockets for his lighter.

"Come on, where is it?" he asked himself out loud. Finally, he went over to where he had left his jacket on the bed and checked in the pockets, finding it. Then Dean went back over and started lighting the candles with Sam's help. Sam used a lit candle to light the others.

Once they had all the candles lit, the brothers started to sing. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Sarah. Happy birthday to youuu." Sarah then quickly thought of a wish and blew out the candles as Sam and Dean cheered, clapping. After the candles were removed, Sam cut the cake, giving Sarah the first piece, followed by Dean, then himself. The rest of the cake ended up being thrown in a cake fight Dean had started.

Cake was thrown everywhere. On themselves, the walls, the floor including the beds. After they cleaned themselves up, the Winchesters tried as best as they could to get up most of it so the cleaning crew didn't have to. Well, the cake anyway. They'll worry about the rest in the morning. When the three of them were ready for bed, Dean pulled out the gift he had bought.

Sarah took it from him, sitting cross-legged on their bed. She ripped off the paper and was excited when she saw it was a remote-controlled helicopter. "Thanks, Dad," she thanked him and hugged his neck.

"You're welcome, baby girl," he told her, hugging her back.

While Dean opened the helicopter for her, Sam went out to Impala for a few moments. When Dean got it out of the box, he turned it on and tried it out first. The two of them watched as it hovered above them.

"Can I have a turn, Dad?" asked Sarah.

"No way," he teased her as he controlled the helicopter.

"It's my toy," she pointed out.

"So? I bought it."

Sarah jumped on her father and started trying to wrestle him for it. She tried to grab the remote out of his hands but Dean had a firm grip on it. "Dad," she whined, starting to get frustrated, sitting back on her legs.

Dean sat up, handing the remote to her after he landed the helicopter safely. "Okay, fine," he smirked.

She took the remote and tried it, herself. Sarah flew it all over the motel room, trying to keep it from crashing. Eventually, Sam came back in with a newspaper wrapped gift and handed it out to his niece. Sarah landed the helicopter and placed the remote beside her on the bed, taking her uncle's gift from him.

Dean switched off the power to the remote so it wouldn't waste the battery as Sarah ripped off the newspaper.

Sam sat down on his own bed. "Sorry it's not as cool as a remote-controlled helicopter," he said.

Sarah tossed the newspaper aside and looked at a package of green army men from the dollar store, bringing a smile upon her face. "I love these," she told her uncle and climbed off the bed to give her uncle a hug, and gave her father another one, too. "Thanks, Uncle Sam. Thanks, Dad." She told them.

"You're welcome, peanut," Sam replied as he hugged her back.

"You're welcome, baby girl," Dean replied, too when he also hugged her back.

For the rest of the evening, the Winchesters watched some TV until they each fell asleep. Sarah had had some pretty amazing birthdays, like the year her grandfather rented out a laser tag arena but so far, this birthday had been her favorite one of all because even though the brothers weren't rich and didn't have everything they ever wanted, the brothers, especially Dean found time and a way to make her day special and that's all that mattered to Sarah.


	28. Chapter 28

**Just pointing it out there, I'm trying to work on my narration to dialogue ratio. It feels like I use too much dialogue and I know there should be an equal amount so bear with me as I work on that. Also, this is the episode I have been wanting to get up to for a while now :)**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 28

Dean pulled up and parked by the curb before immediately getting out and went back to the trunk to get a small, red toolbox. Sarah got out on the opposite side, as well while Sam waited a minute before he got out of the car. All three were dressed in one piece jumpsuits like repairmen.

"All right, Dean," said Sam when Dean closed the trunk and stepped up, onto the sidewalk. "This is the place."

"You know, I gotta say, Dad and me did just fine without these stupid costumes," Dean complained as they started walking towards the apartment building. It had seemed a young woman was murdered and the police had no leads on what could have done it, since there were no sign of a break in. So, the Winchesters had decided to check it out since it sounded like their thing. "I feel like a high school drama dork."

Both brothers chuckled to themselves.

"What was that play you did?" Dean asked Sam. "That…What was it? _Our Town_. Yeah. You were good. It was cute."

"I did a play, once," Sarah spoke up. "I was the angel in our church's Christmas play."

"How'd it go?" asked Sam.

"Everyone said I was good," she replied. "Gram even says I'm her little angel."

Her uncle smiled, "Well, you're beautiful like one."

The Winchesters headed inside to talk to the landlord first who unlocked the door to the murdered woman's apartment. Dried blood was splattered all over the floor and no windows seemed to be broken. Sam asked the landlord some questions about what happened. She was the one who found Meredith, the young woman who was murdered. In pieces, too like a wild animal did it or something.

Eventually, the landlord left so the Winchesters could do some investigating of their own. Dean opened the toolbox up and took out two EMF readers, handing one to Sarah while Sam got out the infrared thermal scanner.

"So, the killer walks in and out of the apartment," Dean thought through everything out loud. "No weapon, no prints. Nothing."

"I'm telling you," said Sam, "the minute I found that article, I knew this was our kind of gig."

The EMF readers were going off, pointing in the red. "I think so, too," Sarah agreed, looking at hers.

"You say you talked to the cops, Dean?" he asked his brother as they all stood up and started walking around the apartment.

"Uh…yeah," replied Dean. "Spoke to Amy, a, uh…charming, perky officer of the law."

Sam was holding the infrared thermal scanner up towards the ceiling. "Yeah, what did you find out?"

"Well, she's a Sagittarius. She loves tequila, I mean…" Dean exhaled. "Oh, and she's got this little tattoo, right…"

"Dean!" Sam cut his brother off.

Dean quickly looked back at him. "What?" He suddenly remembered, A) they were on an important job and B) his daughter was standing in earshot of him. "Yeah. Uh, nothing we don't already know. Except for one thing they're keeping out of the papers."

"What's that?" asked Sarah, wandering around the room, looking for any clues. The EMF reader was clutched in her left hand.

"Meredith's heart was missing."

Sarah stopped and looked at her father. "So, do you think it's a werewolf?"

"No, not a werewolf," said Sam. "The lunar cycle's not right."

"I don't think a skinwalker could get in with everything locked," she shrugged.

"Even if it was some sort of creature, it would have left some kind of trace. It's probably a spirit."

Dean was looking at the blood splatter, his head tilted sideways. "See if you can find any masking tape around."

While he connected each splatter with black tape, Sarah watched. "What is playing connecting the dots gonna do, Dad?" she asked but didn't get an answer.

Once Dean finished, he stood up as they now stared at a big, black Z with a circle in the center of it.

"Ever see that symbol before?" Sam asked him.

"Never," he replied.

"Me neither."

Sarah tilted her head, looking at the Z. "It kind of looks like the Z in _Dragonball Z_," she said.

Dean rolled his eyes. "You would say something like that, wouldn't you?"

While Sam and Sarah did some research at the library, Dean headed for her workplace, a bar. Dean was asking the bartender about Meredith. Or rather, he was supposed to be. All he came out with was a phone number on a paper napkin.

Sam wandered into the bar, holding the door for his niece. He looked around and led Sarah over to a high table, lifting her up onto a chair before sitting in another.

When Dean noticed they were there, he wandered over to his family. "Talked to the bartender," he stated as he took a seat across from Sam.

"You get anything?" he asked, looking over a newspaper clipping of Meredith's murder. "Beside her number."

"Dude, I'm a professional. I'm offended that you would think that," Dean tried to explain but was failing miserably as Sam was nodding at him, knowing him well. So, he held up the napkin with the phone number on it, "All right. Heh heh."

"You mind doing a little bit of thinking with your upstairs brain, Dean?"

Sarah stared at her uncle. "We only have one brain, Uncle Sam," she told him.

Sam just sighed.

"There's nothing to find out, Sam," Dean told him. "Meredith worked here, she waited tables. Everyone here's her friends. Everyone says she was normal. She didn't do or say anything weird before she died. So… What about that symbol? Anything, besides the fact that it looks like a cartoon logo, according to cartoon queen here?" He shook his head towards Sarah.

"Nothing," Sarah replied. "I even looked in my books, too."

"There wasn't anything in Dad's journal, either," Sam added. "So we just have to dig a little deeper, I guess."

Sarah shrugged, "Where else should we look?"

"Well, there was a first victim, right, before Meredith," said Dean.

Sam went through the other news clippings and pulled out one of a man who was murdered inside his home, same as Meredith. "Right, yeah. His name was, uh… His name was Ben Swartz. Last month he was found mutilated in his townhouse. Same deal. The door was locked. The alarm was on."

"Any connection between the two of them?"

"Nothing I can tell," he shrugged. "I mean, not yet at least. Ben was a banker. Meredith was a waitress. They never met, never knew anyone in common. They were practically from two different worlds."

"So, to recap, the only successful intel we've scored so far is the bartender's phone number." Dean smiled at that.

Sam happened to look over at that point and noticed someone sitting on the other side of the bar, with their back to him.

"What?" Dean asked him.

Sam stood up and wandered over to the person as Dean called out to him. Dean and Sarah exchanged looks between each other. "Is Uncle Sam thinking with his…downstairs brain now?" she asked, confused.

He looked at his daughter. Finally, he said, "Next chance we get, we're having the talk."

"What talk?"

"_Thee talk_, before I lose my mind with your questions." Dean stood up and lifted Sarah down from the chair before they wandered over to where Sam was talking to a young girl his age with short, blond hair and very pretty features. He didn't like being left out so Dean cleared his throat a couple times before the girl told him to cover his mouth, rudely.

Sam looked back at his brother and niece. "Yeah, I'm sorry, Meg. This is, um…heh. My brother, Dean, and my niece, Sarah," he introduced to the girl, Meg.

"Hello," Sarah waved, politely.

Meg seemed surprised. "This is Dean," she said.

He nodded, "Yeah," quietly.

Dean smiled, "So you heard of me."

"Oh yeah. I've heard of you," she told him, matter-of-factly. "Nice. The way you treat your brother like lugguage."

Sarah scrunched her eyebrows together as Dean asked, "I'm sorry?"

"Why don't you let him do what he wants to do," she told Dean off. "Stop dragging him over God's green earth."

"Hey, watch it, sister," Sarah warned, angrily. "You don't know my dad, at all."

"Sarah, calm down," Sam scolded his niece. To Meg, "Meg, it's all right."

Meg stayed quiet, staring over at Dean while Sarah stared up at her, with her arms tightly folded across her chest.

Dean whistled, "Okay. Awkward. I'm gonna take Sarah over there, maybe get a drink now." He turned to walk away. "Come on, Sarah, before you set off a bar fight."

Sarah reluctantly followed her father away from her uncle and his friend. They walked over to the bar where Dean ordered a beer for him and an ice water for Sarah. After Sam finished talking with his friend, the three of them headed outside.

"Who the hell is she?" asked Dean.

"I don't really know," Sam replied. "I only met her once."

"So you talk crap to strangers about Dad?" Sarah asked, in a nasty tone.

"Yeah, what was she sayin'? Huh?" Dean agreed. "I treat you like luggage?"

"Look, I'm sorry, all right. It was when we had that huge fight when I was in that bus stop in Indiana."

"So?" Sarah told her uncle. "That doesn't mean you go and complain to someone you don't even know, about your own family. Especially when that person doesn't even know him."

Sam let out an annoyed sigh. _Sometimes I wish you were an eight-year-old with an average eight-year-old's brain, Sarah_, he thought to himself. "That's not important."

Sarah mumbled, "Sounds important to me," to herself.

"Just listen," Sam told them.

Dean cut his brother off. "Is there any truth to what she's saying? Am I keeping you against your will, Sam?"

"No, of course not. Would you listen?"

Turning around to face Sam, he asked, "What?"

"I think there's something strange going on here, Dean," said Sam.

"Yeah, tell me about it. She wasn't that into me."

Sam rolled his eyes. "No man. I mean, like, our kind of strange. Like, maybe even a lead."

"What makes you say that?" asked Sarah.

"I met Meg weeks ago," he explained. "Literally, on the side of the road, and now I run into her in some random Chicago bar? The same bar where a waitress was slaughtered by something supernatural. You don't think that's weird?"

"We ran into my cousin, a few weeks ago, randomly on a hunt," she pointed out.

"Kid's got a point there," said Dean. "Maybe it's just a random coincidence. It happens."

"Well, yeah, it happens but not to us," Sam argued. "Look, I could be wrong. I'm just saying that's there's something about this girl that I can't quite put my finger on."

"But I bet you like to," he smirked, his mind in the gutter again. Maybe she's not a suspect. May-maybe you got a thing for her, huh?"

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother.

Dean pointed at his head, "Maybe you're thinking a little too much with your upstairs brain. Huh?"

Sarah was even more confused by the men's conversation. "Again. Only one brain, not two."

"Never mind, Sarah," Sam told her. "Just do me a favor, you two. Check and see if there's really is a Meg Masters from Andover, Massachusetts and see if you can dig anything up on the symbol on Meredith's floor."

"What are you going to do?" asked Dean.

Sam hesitated a bit. "I'm gonna watch Meg."

Dean chuckled out loud, "Yeah you are."

"I just want to see what's what," he assured him. "Better safe than sorry."

"All right, you little pervert."

"Dude."

"I'm going, I'm going," Dean finally said, walking away.

Sarah followed after him. "What's a pervert?" she asked.

Dean let out an annoyed sigh. "Okay. Talk starts now." They stepped up, onto the sidewalk across the street from the bar. Dean was walking with his hands in his pockets of his jacket. "I know you know the difference between a guy and a girl."

"Uh huh," she nodded up at him.

"Well, when Sam and I were talking about our upstairs brain, we meant our brains in our head. But to a guy, we sometimes think with another part of the body, usually involving what's called sex. With me, so far?"

Sarah nodded, again. "So, what's sex?"

Dean looked elsewhere than his daughter. He could not believe he was having this conversation already with his eight-year-old daughter. But he could not go another hour, much less a day with another question about what he and Sam says now and again. "When a man and a woman like each other they like to express it in a natural, compassionate way," he explained and finally looked down at her. "It's actually how you were made."

"But Gram said God made me."

"No, your mom and I made you," he told her.

"So, you and Mom did like each other once?"

Dean stared down at the ground as he walked. "Well, yes and no."

"Huh?"

"Remember, I was still considered a kid, myself when your mother and I met. All my mind was on was hunting, partying, and sex. Still am, I guess you can say," he shrugged. "Your mom and I didn't want a relationship. But then, after we saw each other, she started falling for me more and I didn't want that. So, I left."

Sarah was watching her feet as she walked beside her father. "Mom said you didn't say good-bye to her."

He shrugged again. "I figured it would be more painful to say good-bye than to just leave."

"Yeah, well, Mom hated you for it. I'd catch her and Mark talking about you and how you and I ruined her life."

Dean continued to stare at the ground. He did feel awful about sleeping with Emily and then leaving her. That wasn't him, though. Back then, Dean Winchester did not do relationships. He did not do families, except for his own father and brother. He did not do any of that stuff. Now, that he was older though, and how becoming a father made him grow up some, he realized his childish mistakes had really done a number on more than one person's life.

He stopped to look at his daughter. "Sarah, I regret every day about what I did to your mom," he admitted.

Sarah's eyes widen as she looked back, up at him. ""So, her and Mark were telling the truth?"

Dean looked up at the cloudy, night sky and let out a breath of air, closing his eyes. Finally, he returned to Sarah. "Yeah, baby girl. Yeah, they were right. What I did was stupid and asinine, and I wish I could take it back but I can't." Dean shrugged. "I mean, hell, I'm probably the main cause of her brain tumor."

Sarah looked away, sadly. "I didn't want them to be right."

"At least I can admit it, Sarah. Most guys wouldn't. Hell, most guys wouldn't have stepped up and fill their fatherly duties. I figured it was the least I could do though. The other option was putting you up for adoption and with your age, you could have been bounced around foster homes for several years since for some reason everyone wants babies and younger children. At least with your uncle and me, you have a family that loves you. Shoot, I stepped foot in Wal-Mart for ya. I don't just do that for anyone especially since I hate Wal-Mart." Dean couldn't help but laugh when he said that last part. "But seriously, Sarah, what already happened, I can't change, I know that now. But what I can do, is fix what I can change and that's right here, right now." He took his right hand from his pocket and ran it through his daughter's brown hair. "You dig?"

Sarah looked up at her father and nodded. "Sometimes I did want to meet you."

Dean smiled, "You did, huh?" walking again as he kept his hand on the back of her head.

"Yeah. I wondered if you would have liked me or if you hated me, because you weren't around."

He took his hand back, sliding it back into his pocket as he stared ahead. "I think every kid that doesn't have a mom or dad in their life thinks that, baby girl," he told her as they walked to the motel they were staying in.


	29. Chapter 29

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 29

Sarah leaned against her left hand as she stared at her uncle's laptop screen while her father talked to her grandfather's friend, Caleb on the phone about the symbol on Meredith's floor. Dean had Sarah look up Sam's friend, Meg while he took care of the symbol research.

"Thanks, Caleb," she heard him say before he closed his phone and walked over to lean over her, on the table.

"Find anything?" he asked.

"Yeah, found her in the phone book. I even found her MySpace page," Sarah told him. "She hasn't been on for quite a few months though."

"MySpace? What the hell is that?"

"Some web site everyone's on," she shrugged. "Mom had one, too. Anyway, Meg seems normal. She even went to college."

"Thanks, baby girl." Dean opened his cell phone again and dialed Sam's number. "Let me guess," he told Sam. "You're lurking outside that poor girl's apartment, aren't you?"

"No," Sam replied, lying. There was an awkward pause before he changed his answer.

"You got a funny way of showing your affection."

"You find anything on her or what?" Sam asked, annoyed.

"Sorry man, she checks out," he told him. "Sarah found a Meg Masters in the Andover phonebook and on some web site. Now, look, why don't you go knock on her door and, uh, invite her to a poetry reading or whatever it is you do. Huh?"

Sam just shook his head. At least Dean cared enough to try. Sam just wasn't ready to move on yet on the whole dating thing. He could never find someone who could take Jessica's place and it felt Meg wasn't the right girl to fill that hole. "What about the symbol? Any luck?"

"Yeah, that I did have some luck with," Dean said. "It's, uh…" he looked through his notes he took when he was talking with Caleb. "Turns out its Zoroastrian. Very, very old school, like two thousand years before Christ. It's a sigil for a Daeva."

"What's a Daeva?" Sam asked.

"Translate to demon of darkness. Zoroastrian demons and they're savage, animalistic. You know, nasty attitudes. Kind of like, uh, demonic pit bulls."

"So, Sarah figured that out, too?"

"No, I did. Come on, give me some credit, man," Dean told him. "I can chase paper, too."

"Oh yeah," Sam asked. "Name the last book you read."

Dean tried to think up an answer but came up blank. "Uh, I called Dad's friend, Caleb. He told me, all right?"

Sam scoffed, "Yeah."

"Anyway, here's the thing. These Daevas have to be summoned, conjured," Dean continued to explain.

"So, someone's controlling it," Sam guessed.

"Yeah, it's what I'm saying," he told him. "And from what I gather, it's pretty risky business too. These suckers tend to bite the hand that feeds them. And the, uh, arms and the torsos."

"So what do they look like?"

"No one knows," Dean shrugged. "Nobody's seen them for a couple of millennia. I mean, summoning a demon that ancient, someone really knows their stuff. I think we got a major player in town. Now, why don't you go give that girl a private strip-o-gram."

"Bite me," Sam told him.

"No, bite her," he replied. "Don't leave teeth marks though. Just enough to…" The line went dead. "Sam? You…" Dean looked at his cellphone and saw his brother had hung up. So, he closed it and set his phone on the table.

"It's not nice to bite people, you know, Dad," Sarah looked up from some paperwork Dean's friend, Amy had dropped off a moment ago.

"Not this kind," he assured her. "That reminds me. Did you have any more questions about our talk we had about sex? Don't be afraid to ask me, if something doesn't make sense. We got some time before Sam gets here."

"Actually I do, but not about sex. You and Uncle Sam are from Lawrence, Kansas, right?" she asked.

He nodded, "Yeah, why?"

Sarah pushed the paperwork towards him and pointed at the victims' date of births. Listed underneath as their birthplace was Lawrence, Kansas. Dean stared in shock at it. How did they miss this before?

"Is that another random co-win-si-dense?" she asked, trying to repeat what her father said earlier.

Dean picked up the death certificates and got a closer look. He shook his head and said, "No, this is something else entirely."

Several minutes later, Sam came bounding through the door towards Dean as Dean went up to him as they both said, "Dude, I gotta talk to you."

"That was weird," Sarah said the exact same thing the brothers were thinking.

Sam went first, explaining about what he had just witnessed with Meg.

"So, hot little Meg is summoning the Daeva," Dean said, afterwards.

"Looks like she was using that black alter thing," Sam continued to explain as Dean walked over and sat back at the table.

"So Sammy's got a thing for the bad girl?" he chuckled to himself. "And what's the deal with that bowl again?"

"She was talking into it, the way witches used to scry into crystal balls or animal entrails. She was communicating with it."

"So, Meg's a witch?" Sarah asked, looking up from an online, Cartoon Network game she was playing on her uncle's laptop.

Sam shrugged, "Could be. I don't know."

"Was she talking to the Daeva?"

"No, your dad said those things were savages. This is someone different. Like someone who's coming to that warehouse."

"Like that demon Grandpa's after?"

Sam looked her. "What makes you say that, peanut?"

Sarah looked over at her father, then back at her uncle. She was about to speak when Dean beat her to it, "Holy crap" in realization.

"What?" he asked.

"What I was gonna tell you earlier," said Dean. "I, uh, pulled a favor with my, ahem, friend Amy with the police department. The complete records of the two victims. We missed something the first time and Sarah caught it."

Sam moved closer to his brother, "What?"

"The, uh, first victim, the old man? Spent his whole life in Chicago but he wasn't born here. Look." He showed Sam the death certificates of both victims.

Sam sat down in utter disbelief and sighed. "Holy crap. I mean, it is where the demon killed Mom. It's where everything started. So you think Meg could be tied up with it, somehow?" he shrugged.

"It's a definite possibility," said Dean.

Sarah closed the laptop. "I haven't heard from the demon for a while. So far, it hasn't popped into my dreams."

"I don't understand, then," said Sam. "What's the significance of Lawrence? And how does these Daeva things fit in?"

Dean shook his head, leaning on his folded arms, "Beats me. But I say we trash that black alter, grab Meg and have ourselves an interrogation."

Sam shook his head, too. "No, we can't. We shouldn't tip her off. We gotta stake out that warehouse. We gotta see who…or what…is showing up to meet her."

"I'll tell you one thing," said Dean. "I don't think we should do this alone."

Sam understood who his brother meant but Sarah did not. She looked between the brothers, back and forth until she asked, "Who's gonna help us?"

"Dad," Sam said, quietly.

"You think he'll come this time?"

Dean looked over at his daughter. "Hopefully," he said.

Sarah went out to the Impala with Sam to load up on every weapon Sam could think to grab, including a few books of exorcism rituals. He had Sarah carry the smaller, lighter bag as he took the heavier one up to their motel room. When they returned, Dean was leaving John a voicemail before they got the weapons prepared.

"Big night," Dean stated, loading a shotgun.

Sam agreed, "Yeah. Nervous?"

"No. No. Are you?" he asked in return.

"No. No way."

Dean nodded before returning to the gun in his hand.

"Is it okay to be nervous?" Sarah asked next, loading her own shotgun.

Her father looked at her and reached over to touch her left shoulder. "Yeah, but it'll be okay. The three of us are in this together. Okay?"

She nodded at him.

After a moment where no one said anything and all was heard was the sounds of guns being loaded, Sam spoke, smiling as he shook his head, "Could you imagine if we actually found that damn thing? That demon?"

Dean chuckled at him, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, all right?"

"I know. I'm just saying…what if we did? What if this whole thing was over tonight? Man, I'd sleep for a month." Sam started packing everything back inside the duffel bags. "Go back to school. Just…be a person again."

Dean looked up when Sam mentioned going back to school. "You want to go back to school?"

"Yeah, once we're done hunting the thing," Sam told him.

"Huh."

"Why? Is there something wrong with that?" he asked his brother.

Dean shook his head, fixing his whist strap. "No. No. It's great. Good for you," he said, sadly.

Sarah watched her father and knew already, he was a little bit disappointed. Sarah watched how her father handled things since she met him and started basically idolizing him.

Her uncle asked him what Dean was going to do when it was over and Dean stated that it was never going to be over. That there would always be something to hunt.

"But there's gotta be something you want for yourself. I mean…don't you want a better life for your…"

Dean cut his brother off in mid-sentence. "Yeah, I don't want you to leave the second this thing's over, Sam" He stormed away from the bed and leaned on the dresser. Sarah went over and reached up to place her hand on his lower back, the highest she could reach just standing.

"It's okay, Dad. Uncle Sam's not leaving yet," she assured him.

Dean looked down at his daughter, under his left arm. He placed his hand on top of her head and looked back at Sam. "Why do you think I drag you everywhere, Sam? Huh? I mean, why do you think I came and got you at Stanford in the first place?"

"'Cause Dad was in trouble," said Sam, "'Cause you wanted to find the thing that killed Mom."

"Yes, that," he said, pushing Sarah, gently towards his leg to hug her against it. She hugged his leg to her. Dean threw his head away from his brother, "But it's more than that, man."

"It's okay, Dad," Sarah kept telling her father when Dean didn't say anything else. "Even if Uncle Sam decides to leave, you will always have me. I won't ever leave you." She looked up at him, sincerely.

He looked down and forced a smile for her. "I know, baby girl but it's not just that." Dean closed his eyes.

"What is it then?" she asked him.

"You Sarah, and Sam, and your grandfather. I want us to be a family, together. The four of us."

Sam watched his brother. He loved him and knew that they would always be a family but families don't always stick around together, forever. Sometimes, they have to stray apart so they could do other things. It didn't mean they did not care about their family. It was a part of life and Sarah needed to learn stuff like that. "Dean, we will always be a family," he told him and Sarah even though he addressed Dean. "I'll do anything for you, and Sarah, too. But things will never be the way they were before."

Dean continued to stare at his little girl, sadly. He tried to say something but all he could muster was, "Could be."

Sam nodded, slightly. "I don't want them to be."

Sarah quickly looked over at her uncle, surprised to hear him say something like that. "Why not?"

He turned to look at his niece. "Because I'm not gonna live this life forever." Sam looked back at his brother. "Dean, when this is all over…you're gonna have to let me go my own way."

Dean finally snuck a look at him again. Now that Sam said he was going to leave after the demon was killed, he hoped now the demon would never be found. He didn't want his family torn apart again. Now that he had Sarah, Dean wanted both his father and brother with him. He wanted them to stay together as a family.

As the Winchesters got ready to leave, Sam picked up a duffel bag and headed out to the Impala again. Sarah followed when she noticed Dean was still standing at the bed, his right hand clamped around the other duffel bag's handles as it still laid on the bed.

She stepped towards him. "Dad? You doing okay?" Sarah asked.

Dean broke from his thoughts and looked over at her. He slung the duffel bag on his shoulder but did not move yet.

Sarah continued to watch him. "I meant it, Dad. Even if Uncle Sam goes away, I will still be here." She paused for a few seconds before continuing. "I don't want him to leave either, though."

Dean finally turned and walked over to stand beside her. Father and daughter exchanged looks between them before Sarah turned and the two of them followed after Sam.


	30. Chapter 30

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 30

As Dean drove to the warehouse, Sarah silently prayed in the backseat. He glanced up at the rear-view mirror and rolled his eyes, not understanding how after all she's seen so far, how much faith Sarah still could have.

Sarah sat with her head bowed and her eyes closed. She prayed for protection for her family and that they made it through tonight safely. Sarah also prayed that by a miracle, maybe her grandfather would come and help them.

When she finished, Dean was the first to speak. "I hate to be the pin to your balloon, Sarah but you are wasting your time. You are praying to nothing."

She looked at her father. "Dad, you said to keep it to myself and that's what I'm doing."

"Just saying, Sarah, you can't ask for something from someone who's not gonna answer."

"Just because you don't get an answer, doesn't mean He's not listening."

Dean and Sarah didn't know it but Sam was actually smiling about his niece, hiding it. No one knew it, but he actually prayed, too and believed it. Sam wasn't a church-goer or a bible reader but every night, he said a small prayer.

Finally, they came up to the warehouse and went in from an elevator. Sarah held onto her father's neck as he and Sam climbed up the shaft. After a long climb, they made it to a large room where Meg had her alter. Sam climbed out first, quietly, and set the duffel bag he was carrying down before grabbing his niece from his brother and set her on her feet in front of him.

Sarah, per her uncle's orders, quietly hurried behind some boxes and crates. When Dean was up, on solid ground, he and Sam quickly followed, too. They kneeled behind the crates and boxes. Dean carefully opened the duffel bag he was carrying and handed Sarah her shotgun then traded Sam's pistol for another shotgun, placing the pistol in the bag. Finally, he pulled out a shotgun for himself as they watched Meg, who had been chanting in Latin.

"Guys," Meg said out of nowhere. "Hiding's a little bit childish, don't you think?"

The Winchesters exchanged looks between them before turning back to Meg. They stood up and slowly walked forward, their shotguns pointing towards her while Meg stepped towards them.

"Sam," Meg smiled at him. "I have to say, this puts a real crimp in our relationship."

Sam raised his eyebrows at her, "Yeah, tell me about it."

Sarah stood in between her father and uncle with her shotgun raised, pointing it at Meg.

"So," Dean spoke up, "where's your little Daeva friend?"

"Around," Meg replied. "And that shotgun's not gonna do much good."

"Oh, don't worry, sweetheart. Shotgun's not for the demon."

"So who is it, Meg?" asked Sam. "Who's coming? Who are you waiting for?"

She stared at him, casually, "You."

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a dark shadow appeared on the wall and the Winchesters went flying back, slashing at them. Sarah cried out for Dean as it cut into her flesh. Then, everything went black. When the three of them came to, they were tied up to a few pillars.

Sarah lifted her head, weakly as she felt blood leaking down from her right cheek and left temple. She tried to move her hands but that's when she found out she was tied up.

"You okay, baby girl?" Dean asked from her left.

"Yeah," she replied, quietly.

Dean looked over at his brother, on his other side. "Hey, Sam?" he told him. "Don't take this the wrong way, but your girlfriend…is a bitch."

"This…" Sam turned to Meg. "The whole thing was a trap." He shook his head. "Running into you at the bar. Following you here, hearing what you had to say. It was all a setup, wasn't it?"

Meg just laughed.

"And that the victims were from Lawrence?"

She smiled, "Doesn't mean anything. It was just to draw you in, that's all."

"Wait, you killed those people just to lure us here?" Sarah demanded of her. "Even though they had nothing to do with this?"

"Sweetheart, I killed a lot more for a lot less," Meg told her, coldly.

Sarah glared at her, "You're dog shit, you know that, lady? In fact, you're the kind when it turns white."

"Ouch, do you kiss your mommy with that mouth?" she smirked at her, unfelt by the little girl's insult.

"So, you trapped us," Dean said, changing the subject for his daughter. He knew how touchy she was still with her mother. "Good for you. It's Miller time. Why don't you just kill us."

"Not very quick on the uptake, are we?" she asked him, smirking, still. Meg leaned forward, "This trap isn't for you."

Dean was surprised to hear that. He stared at her, not saying a word.

Sam realized who the trap was for, though. "Dad," he said in a low voice, getting Dean and Sarah's attention. "It's a trap for Dad."

Dean looked back at Meg and smirked, shaking his head. "Well sweetheart, you're dumber than you look. 'Cause even if Dad was in town, which he is not, he wouldn't walk into something like this. He's too good."

"He is pretty good," Meg agreed. "I'll give you that." She then stood up and walked over to where Dean was sitting on the floor and kicked his leg away from where he had it crossed over the other before she kneeled down to his level.

Sarah got on her guard, not liking Meg that close and personal to her father when he was tied up. She started trying to pull free from her binds.

Meg messed with Dean's jacket, also raising Sarah's guard more. "…He has one weakness."

Dean smirked again, "What's that?"

She looked at him, "You. He lets his guard down around his boys. Lets his emotions cloud his judgments. I happen to know he _is _in town. And he'll come and he'll try and save you. And then the Daevas will kill everybody, nice and slow." Meg looked over at Sam, "And messy."

"Well, I got news for you. It's gonna take a lot more than some shadow to kill him."

"Oh, the Daevas are in the room here," she said, looking back at Dean. "They're invisible. Their shadows are just the only part you can see."

"Why are you doing this, Meg?" asked Sam. "What kind of deal you got worked out here, huh? And with whom?"

She looked over at him, angrily. "I'm doing this for the same reasons you do what you do. Loyalty. Love."

Sam just rolled his eyes as he shook his head up at the ceiling.

"Like the love you have for mommy. And Jess."

"Go to hell," he told her in a whisper.

Meg smirked at him, "Baby, I'm already there." Meg moved over to hover over Sam. "Oh, come on, Sam. There's no need to be nasty." She pressed against him and said in his ear, "I think we both know…how you really feel about me." Sam tried to shift away from Meg but she moved with him.

"Dad," Sarah whispered to her father.

"What, Sarah?" he responded to her, quietly.

"Is that what sex is?" she asked, innocently.

Dean let out an annoyed breath of air. "Not a good time, kid."

"I was just wondering, because it's really creepy to watch, to me."

He rolled his eyes as he finally told Meg and Sam to get a room as Meg continued. Sarah decided to turn her head, starting to get grossed out. Instead, Sarah focused on getting loose. She tried to slip her wrists from the binds when she caught sight of her father trying to cut loose with a knife.

Soon though, Meg caught wind of it and went over to take the knife away, tossing it to the side before going back over to Sam. Sarah looked back and saw it had landed a few feet from her. Stealing a glance over at Meg, she twisted her body where she reached her right foot out, towards the knife. The position was twisting her arms in a painful way but Sarah tried to ignore it as she reached for it.

However, her uncle got her attention when he headbutted Meg.

"Sam," Dean exclaimed, "get the alter."

Once Sam was stable from the pain in his now throbbing head, he got to his feet and hurried over to the alter, flipping it over. Everything that was laid out on the table, crashed on the floor. Once the alter was destroyed, the Daeva appeared again and went after Meg, pulling her in and tossed her through the window. She fell to the ground.

Sam hurried over to grab his knife and cut both his brother and niece free before they hurried over to the broken window, looking down at Meg's now mangled body. "So I guess the Daevas didn't like being bossed around," he inquired.

Dean agreed, "Guess not." Sarah tried to pull herself up to see, too but Dean stopped her. "Easy there, baby girl. There's broken glass and you're bleeding enough as it is. You'll see it when we get out there, anyway." Dean then turned to his brother, "Hey, Sam?"

"Hm?" he acknowledged him.

"Next time you wanna get laid, find a girl that's not so buckets of crazy, huh?" Dean smiled and walked away. Sarah followed after him.

Sam stayed, staring down at Meg before following, too. They collected their duffel bags and headed downstairs, using the stairs this time and got into the Impala. Sarah stole a glance over at Meg's lifeless body. It looked kind of sad to her, but knew Meg had it coming to her. She was an evil person who killed for the hell of it. That was a monster in Sarah's book.

On the car ride back to the motel room, Sarah sat in the backseat, cross-legged. She touched at the now, dried blood on her face, thinking. She stared at the floor, in front of her. John didn't come. They needed his help again, and he still wasn't there. Maybe Meg was lying about him being in town. Sarah could tell how loyal her father was to him just as she was loyal to her father. But John didn't seem to care as much as Dean cared for her so why? Well, maybe if Sarah was in Dean's shoes and he was missing like John was, maybe she would be the same way.

Before she knew it, Dean had pulled up to the motel and parked. They all got out and Sam carried one of the duffel bags in with them. Sarah lagged behind a bit, not really listening to what her father and uncle were saying. When Dean unlocked the door and turned on the light, she looked up when he yelled, "Hey."

Sarah looked around her father to see a shadow over by the window. Sam was already opening the duffel bag. Sarah turned quickly, ready to grab a weapon. Sam stopped when the shadow turned around, and he and Dean saw who it really was. Sarah recognized him from pictures and her dream, only older and had more facial hair.

"Dad?" she heard her father say.

"Hey, boys," John replied, smiling.

Dean looked back at Sam, before he walked towards his father, who met him halfway and shared a hug. Sarah gripped the wall as she watched. So, her grandfather did come? Then why didn't he come to the warehouse and help them? How did he even get into their room? Oh, wait, right. John probably taught her father how to pick a lock.

Sarah looked up to see Sam walking over to them and set the duffel bag down.

John looked over at him. Sam was giving him a serious look. "Hi, Sam," Sarah heard John say.

Sarah could barely make out a "hey, Dad" from her uncle.

"Dad, it was a trap," said Dean. "I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"It's all right," John assured his oldest son. "I thought it might have been."

"Were you there?" he asked.

John was looking down, nodding, "Yeah. Just in time," he raised his head, "to see the girl take the swan dive. She was the bad guy, right?"

"Yes sir," the boys said in union.

So, John was there. He just headed to the motel room to meet them. Sarah continued to stand back, holding onto the wall. She didn't know why she felt afraid when she had already talked to her grandfather. She saw him turn his head over to Sam.

"Well, it doesn't surprise me," he said. "It's tried to stop me before."

"The demon has?" asked Sam.

"It knows I'm close. It knows I'm gonna kill it. Not just exorcise it or send it back to hell. Actually kill it."

Dean shook his head, "How?"

John smiled at him, "I'm working on that."

Dean smiled, too when Sam said, "Well, let us come with you. We'll help you." Dean looked at his brother as if to say, "Come on, dude. Don't do this."

John shook his head, looking down. "No, Sam. Not yet." He looked up again. "Listen, try to understand. This demon is one scary son of a bitch."

Sarah had to agree with her grandfather there, especially those yellow eyes of its. It made chills go down her spine just thinking about them. She could see them piercing through her head. Sarah had been in thought for so long that by the time she looked back at her family, John and Sam were hugging each other.

That was also when Dean noticed Sarah was still standing back there, out of the corner of his eye as he was smiling at seeing his father and brother hugging it out instead of at each other's throats. "Come here, baby girl," he told her. "It's okay."

Sarah started to walk towards her father as John turned around to get a look at his first and only grandchild. Sarah never made it, though. Out of nowhere, John was thrown back against the small kitchen's cabinets, and the boys and Sarah were knocked in different directions.

Sarah cried out as one of the Daevas scratched her right eye.

"Sarah!" she heard her father yell for her before he cried out in pain, himself.

"Daddy!" she yelled back. Sarah tried to get up, but the Daeva that was after her, took another swing at her. Soon, she heard her uncle yell for them to shut their eyes before the room was lit up in blinding light. Sarah covered her eyes with her left arm. Then, a few moments later, she felt someone pick her up and heard her uncle yell to her father that he had her. Sarah held onto Sam as he carried her out in one arm as he carried the duffel bag on his opposite shoulder.

They hurried as fast as they could, out to where the Impala was parked. Sam set his niece down before tossing the duffel bag into the backseat. Dean was holding his father up. "All right, come on. We don't have much time," Sam was saying. "Soon as the flare's out, they'll be back."

"No, wait. Wait," Dean told him. "Sam, wait." He looked over at his father, panting heavily. "Dad, you can't come with us."

"What?" Sam asked. "What are you talking about?"

"You boys, you're beat to hell," said John and nodded down at Sarah. "Look at your kid, Dean. She looks just as bad."

"We'll be all right," Dean assured his father.

"Dean, we should stick together," Sam told him. "We'll go after this demon thing, together."

"Sam, listen to me. We almost got Dad killed in there. Don't you understand? They're not gonna stop. They're gonna try again. They'll use us to get to him. I mean, Meg was right." Dean paused for a moment before he finished, "Dad's vulnerable when he's with us."

Sam looked at him, panting heavily, as well. Sarah was hugging onto her father's left leg now.

"He's stronger without us around."

When Sam turned to try and talk John out of leaving, Dean looked away and suddenly remembered his daughter. He painfully kneeled down to her level to give her an once-over and saw that her right eye was shut and blood was dripping down like tears. He touched his right thumb above it and tried to open it, gently. "Does that hurt, baby girl?"

She nodded. "My tears make it hurt more, Daddy."

Dean's eyes widened when he realized that Sarah needed medical attention as soon as possible that her eye maybe damaged. "Sam, we have to go," he said, interrupting their conversation.

"Dean," he tried to argue.

Dean looked up at his brother. "Sarah needs to see a doctor, Sam."

John and Sam looked alarmed. "What's wrong with her?" asked Sam.

Dean looked back at his daughter and tried to pry her eye open again. It opened a little bit, but all he saw was more blood. "It's her eye. One of the demons must have scratched it."

John went over and kneeled down, too, also in pain and got a look for himself. "Yes, get her to a hospital as soon as possible."

Sarah looked back at her grandfather. "I don't want you to go, Grandpa," she told him.

"I have to, sweetheart," he replied. "Your father's right. I have to get away, at least for a while."

"We'll see you again…right?"

"I promise, sweetheart," he said.

Sarah then threw herself at her grandfather and hugged him around the neck. "Thanks for the birthday text message, by the way," she whispered into his right ear.

John smiled, "You're welcome but you all really need to get going." He let her go and stood up, before walking over to where he had parked his big, old two-door pick-up truck. Stealing one last look at his boys and granddaughter, he said, "Be careful." John then opened his door and got in, driving away.

With a small push from Dean, Sam went around the Impala to his side and got in, as Dean and Sarah got in, too. Once John was gone, Dean started the engine and pulled out of the spot, before turning the steering wheel to drive away to start the search of a hospital for his daughter.


	31. Chapter 31

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 31

"Here's your card, sir," a kind woman in her early thirties, wearing blue scrubs told Sam as she handed him back their insurance card.

Sam thanked her and turned around to walk over to where Dean was pacing back and forth, a nervous wreck. Both of them were bandaged up since they had arrived at the hospital about a little over an hour ago, after Sarah was taken into care and ever since then, Dean had been trying, very patiently to wait for the doctor to return and tell him his little girl was going to be all right.

Dean couldn't believe this had ever happened. Sure, Sarah had some injuries over the past year from hunts but Dean had always been able to treat them, himself. Even when the motel they were staying in, didn't have a first-aid kit, he always made due with rags and beer. Now, as he paced the floor of the waiting room, he couldn't help but think the worse possible outcome of this. Most importantly was, if this was grounds to bring in Child Services. He wasn't sure and wished it wasn't.

Sam sat down in one of the chairs and leaned his forearms on his knees. After a few minutes, he looked up at his brother. "Dude, you're not helping my nerves any. Will you sit down before you dig a hole to China."

Dean stopped pacing, his back to his brother. He then turned around, "I can't help it, Sam. I won't be able to calm down until I know my little girl's okay."

"Dean, I told you in the beginning you shouldn't have brought her into all this. Sarah's a kid. I mean, Dad didn't let us hunt until we were, like at least fourteen," said Sam.

Dean ran his hand along his hair. "I…I just didn't want Sarah out of my sight. If I leave her in a motel room, something could find its way in. She doesn't have an older brother to protect her, Sam."

"I don't ever recall anything coming in and getting us, growing up," he shrugged.

Dean looked away before walking from his brother, not saying a word. Flashes of a particular night zoomed in through his mind. He couldn't tell his brother that he almost got Sam killed because he was bored and wanted to get out of the motel room.

"Dean, what's going on?" asked Sam. When Dean did not respond, he dropped his head before picking it back up. "Dean, if you're that worried about Sarah being alone why don't we drop her off at Bobby's? Bobby liked having us there when Dad dropped us off. Maybe he won't mind taking care of Sarah when we're on hunts. It'll be a lot safer for her in the long run, anyway."

"He's not her father, Sam," he shot back around to his brother. Sam was taken by surprise. "I am. I'm the one who should be taking care of her. Not you. Not Bobby. Me."

Sam looked around, thankful the waiting room they were in was deserted. He stopped and looked at his brother. "I know you're her father, Dean. I'm just saying that it would be better if Sarah didn't hunt. At least until she's older."

Dean was staring at the floor. "I just figured since she knew about this stuff already…"

"I learned when I was nine, you learned at an even earlier age but Dad didn't drag us out on a hunt until a decent age. Sarah's eight, and she may seem older, she's not." He stopped, letting it sink in for a few moments. "If you want, I can make the call to Bobby."

Dean did not respond. At that point, he just wanted to be by his daughter's side, holding her in his arms. He didn't like having Sarah out of his sight no more than five seconds. He was ecstatic when the doctor finally came out and walked over to the brothers. Sam stood up when she stopped beside Dean.

"Are you here for Sarah Winchester?" she asked them, holding a thick, grey metal clipboard.

"Yes, I'm her…"

Sam nudged Dean in the arm before he told the doctor that he was her uncle. Technically, since Dean was confirmed dead, Sam was Sarah's guardian which actually got under Dean's skin.

"Well, your niece has what we call a corneal abrasion on her right eye. It's usually from when you scratch your eye," the doctor explained. "We managed to stop the bleeding for the most part and applied drops to it."

"But she's okay, right?" Dean asked of her.

"Yes. She'll need to keep it covered for about at least a week and I will prescribe a bottle of eye drops that will need to be given once, every six hours." The doctor looked between the brothers. "You were lucky you got her in when you did. By the look of the seriousness, it's a miracle Sarah still has both her eye and vision."

Dean blew a sigh of relief. "Can we see her now?"

"Yes. She's resting right now, and after I get the paperwork finished and fill out that prescription, you can take her home." The doctor turned and led the brothers down a hall to a room surrounded by a long curtain. She pushed it back a little and let them go in.

Dean hurried over to where Sarah was sitting on the edge of a hospital bed. She was wearing a piece of gauze taped over her right eye, along with several bandages like her father and uncle. Dean wrapped her in a tight hug, glad she was all right.

The doctor left the family alone.

"How ya feelin', kiddo?" Dean asked his daughter.

"My eye doesn't hurt as much," she replied.

"That's good," Sam smiled from the other side of the bed. The smile vanished. "Sarah, your dad and I were talking and we think it's best if you went to stay with Bobby…"

Dean quickly finished, "Just until your eye gets better." He forced a smile for her. "I mean, you're no good on a hunt with only one good eye."

"But what if you find the demon while I'm gone?" she asked. "I want a part of it, too. I want it dead as much you do."

"It's just for a week, I promise," he assured her. "We will come back for you."

Sam looked over at Dean. "Dean," he said.

Dean ignored him.

Once everything was sorted, Sarah was able to be check out and they met up with Bobby, who happened to have just finished a hunt of his own, not far from where the Winchesters were. Bobby pulled up in his old, two-door car where they were leaning against the Impala underneath a highway.

Bobby turned off the engine and stepped out, shutting his door before walking over to Sam and Dean. "Hey, boys," he told them. Bobby turned to Sam. "It's good to see ya, Sam. It's been a long time."

Sam nodded agreeing then shared a hug with the old hunter before Dean had one, too.

"I somehow knew I'd be getting a call from you, Dean."

Dean had his hands in his pockets, looking down at the ground. He looked up when Bobby told him that. "It's just for a week, just until her eye is better. This won't be an on-going thing." Sam and Bobby shared a look as Dean kneeled down to his daughter's level. "You be good for Bobby, you hear me?"

Sarah nodded at him, "Yes, sir." She had heard her father and uncle address John that way so since then Sarah had been addressing Dean in the same manner. Dean flinched at first, being called sir but did not fight it.

"If I hear you acted like a brat to him, you know what's gonna happen when I come to get you. Got it?" he told her.

Again, she nodded, "Yes, sir."

Dean then pulled his daughter into a tight embrace. The following week will be the hardest week Dean has had the past year, of fatherhood. He did not want to be states away from his little girl, knowing that he would not be there to protect her. Dean did trust Bobby, though. It was just the fatherly instinct he had inside his ears, mind, and heart.

When Dean finally let go, Sarah went over to hug Sam next before she got her duffel bag from the trunk of the Impala and placed it in Bobby's, who opened it for her.

"Ready to go, youngin'?" Bobby called as he walked over to the driver's side of his car.

Sarah walked around to the passenger side and opened the car door. Dean walked over, beside his car door and stood there, watching his little girl. His hands were dug into his jacket pockets. A tear was starting to fall from his right eye. Sarah stole one last look at her father and hurried over to give one last hug to him. Dean lifted her up and held her, tightly in his arms.

"It'll be okay, Daddy," she assured him from his left shoulder. "It's just a week."

Dean sniffed back more tears. "I know, baby girl. I know." After a few minutes, he put her down on her feet and ruffled her hair, forcing a grin. "Try to be a normal kid, this week. Okay? No research. No thinking about hunting. Just…be a kid. Show Bobby what I taught ya under a hood."

Sarah wiped her left eye, dry. "I will, Daddy." She then walked back over and got inside the car where Bobby was already inside, with the motor running. Sarah shut the door and waved at her father and uncle. "I love you, Daddy. Love you, Uncle Sam."

Sam was leaning on his side of the Impala, on his forearms. "I love you, too, peanut," he smiled. Sam knew he was going to miss his niece just as much as his brother was but with only one good eye in function, time away would do them some good and maybe, hopefully make Dean see that this would be the best thing for Sarah, permanently.

"I love you, too, baby girl," Dean told Sarah as well. "Help Bobby out around the place too."

"I will," she replied. With that, Bobby put the gear in drive and drove away. Sarah looked back as her father and uncle got smaller and farther away before Bobby turned a corner, then she sat back into the seat and looked over at the old hunter. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna take a nap. It's been a long night and I'm pretty tired."

Bobby was surprised to hear something like at from a kid so young but nodded. "I'll wake ya up when we get home."

Sarah turned her head back towards the window. As she watched the stars zip pass, her eye started to feel heavy until finally Sarah drifted off to sleep.

When Bobby had turned the corner, Dean turned and looked down for a moment before getting inside the Impala. He looked up, at the rear-view mirror to see nothing.

"Dean…" Sam tried to speak beside him.

"Don't start, Sammy," he told his brother. "'Cause I'm really not in the mood." Without another word, Dean started the engine and drove off in the same direction, only instead of turning left at the corner he went right as he fought the urge to go left. After seeing his father again, and then having to separate from not only John but his daughter as well, none of it sat too well for him.

When Sarah woke up, she was lying in a bed, under the covers. She lifted her head and peered around the room. Her shoes were off, beside the bed. Sarah pushed the comforter and blanket back and got out of bed, wandering out into the hall. After checking all the rooms before she found the bathroom, she headed down the stairs to find Bobby in the kitchen, warming up some chili on the stove.

He looked up when the little girl stepped on a creaky floorboard. "Afternoon, little one," he greeted her. "I thought you were gonna sleep all week."

Sarah looked around the kitchen. "What time is it?" she asked.

"About two. You're over due on your eye drops, too, by the way," he said.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Sarah remembered.

"Why don't ya go run a bath first," Bobby suggested. "No offense, but I can smell ya from here and it ain't a bed of roses either."

Sarah folded her arms and glared at the old hunter. "You go on a hunt of a bunch of Daevas then come talk to me."

Bobby laughed. "I'm just teasing ya, I know how dirty a hunter can get. Now run along so we can get these eye drops in your eye."

She unfolded her arms, "Okay," and hurried back up the stairs to grab her stuff. A bath probably was better than a shower since she had to keep a bandage on her eye at all times. After the bath, Bobby helped with the drops and to re-bandage it.

"I'm starving," she announced afterwards. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Nope, I was just warming up some leftover chili if you want some," Bobby replied.

"Sure." It wasn't long before Bobby discovered Sarah had her father's appetite. She ended up having two helpings of chili.

After lunch, Bobby had to go out and work on a car. Sarah tagged along and watched at first before she caught something that he missed and pointed it out to him, impressing him some more. For the rest of the afternoon, Sarah stood on an up-turned milk crate while they worked on the car, together. To Bobby, it felt like he had a young Dean with him again.

Once the car was finished, they headed back inside the house, after Bobby fed Rumsfeld his dinner. It turns out that the dog did not mind kids or at least Sarah anyway since he didn't snarl or snap when she tried to pet him on the head.

Bobby warmed up the chili again and the two of them finished it off before washing the dishes. While Bobby washed and rinsed, Sarah dried.

"So, how's the hunting life treating ya?" Bobby tried making small talk. All afternoon, all they talked about before was cars.

"I like it," Sarah replied. "It feels more rewarding than what I did before when I lived with my mom."

"What about school though?" Bobby was washing out one of the bowls.

She shrugged, "Uncle Sam homeschools me in between hunts."

"Don't you miss your friends?" he asked, handing her the bowl.

Sarah took it and dried it with the towel she was using. "I never really had friends," she admitted. "Except maybe my cousin, but since we met up with him back in Nebraska he's not the same person."

"What do you mean?" he asked, curious.

"Before he went away to Iraq, Mark always told me, it's what's on the inside that counted. That it didn't matter how you were on the outside but now that he's back and hating himself for being alive and stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, I don't know anymore. And he really hates Dad, and anyone who hates my dad is not on my list of friends."

Bobby chuckled. "You love your daddy, don't cha?" He washed the last bowl and handed it to the little girl, reminding him of Dean.

She smiled, nodding, "More than anything in the world. Well, except God."

"Well, I don't know anything about that," he admitted, scrubbing the big, old pot now. "My wife believed in all that religious stuff for the both of us."

Sarah looked up at him, curious. "You're married?"

Bobby stared at the pot as he scrubbed the inside first, silent for a moment. "Was. She died a long time ago."

"I'm sorry, Mister Bobby," she told him, sadly.

He looked over at Sarah, and then returned to washing. "Thanks, kid. You don't have to do the whole formal thing with my name, though. Just Bobby is fine. In fact, you can call me what your daddy and uncle used to call me when they were your age."

"What was that?" asked Sarah, patiently waiting to dry the pot.

"Uncle Bobby."

Sarah watched the old hunter. "Are you Grandpa's brother?"

"Nope, but your grandfather used to drop your daddy and uncle off with me when he knew a hunt would take more than a week. That is, until I threatened to shoot him with a shotgun then I didn't see them until they were grown."

An eye brow was raised. "Why did you threaten to shoot Grandpa? Did he make you mad? Or did you think he was possessed?" she continued to ask.

Bobby did not answer at first. "Your…" He shook his head. "Yer a little young to understand."

"How come everyone says that when they meet me? I'm very smart. In fact, I was bumped up a grade when I was in school and Uncle Sam is even teaching me third grade stuff. He's even gonna start on fourth grade in August with me."

Bobby had finished washing the pot and was just staring at the little girl. "I swear, it like having Sam and Dean in one body," he told himself, out loud.

Sarah smirked and Bobby recognized it, too. It was going to be a long week for the old hunter.

**I can't decide to just skip over Sarah's week at Bobby's and continue with the story or do another chapter of it so I am leaving it up to the readers. If you want to hear about Sarah's week or just skip over it, let me know. Doesn't matter to me. I'm just not sure about it.**


	32. Chapter 32

**Thank you so much for your feedback! I really appreciate it! Well, it came out to 3-2 on Sarah's week at Bobby's. I did take everyone's reviews into consideration though and thought about it. And don't worry, Sarah does not get into trouble in this chapter. I did realize though that there is something peculiar that I had to show in this that's gonna be mentioned in a few chapters so I am kind of glad I chose to write this. Sorry if it seems like too much stuff in one single chapter, I want to continue with the next episode in the next chapter.  
**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 32

Dean drove down Interstate 35 as Sam slept beside him, snoring softly. It was quiet except for the Impala's radio and engine. Dean leaned his elbow on the door, thinking about how Sarah was doing. He had called the night before and found out she was having a great time. Don't get him wrong, he was glad his little girl was happy. It just still did not feel right having her miles away from him. When Dean slept, he would feel around beside him and wake up in a state of fear, searching around the room for Sarah before he remembered that she wasn't there.

Dean looked over at his brother, who was sleeping with his mouth open a bit. Since he could use a bit of cheering up, and Sam was the perfect target to do just that, Dean reached down and picked up a plastic spoon and slowly and very carefully slid it into Sam's mouth before taking a picture, sending it to Bobby to show to Sarah. Both he and Sarah loved picking on Sam, and Dean knew Sarah would get a kick out of the picture.

Once he put his phone away, he turned up the volume of the radio and started singing along, banging on the steering wheel like it was a set of drums. Sam woke with a start, spitting out the spoon before he turned the volume back down.

"Ha ha," Sam told his brother, annoyed. "Very funny."

"Sorry. Not a lot of scenery here in east Texas. Kind of gotta make your own," he lied, snickering.

"Man, we're not kids anymore, Dean. We're not gonna start that crap up again."

"Start what up?" Dean asked.

"That prank stuff," Sam looked over at him. "It's stupid, and it always escalates."

"Aww, what's the matter, Sammy? You afraid you're gonna get a little Nair in your shampoo again, huh?"

"All right," he gave in. "Just remember you started it."

Dean laughed, "Ho-ho, bring it on, baldy."

Sam looked out his window. "Where are we, anyway?"

"Few hours outside of Richardson," he replied. "Gimme the low down again."

Sam ripped a piece of paper off the dashboard and read over it. A misogynistic ghost was haunting a house, seen by a group of kids. The conversation was then shifted over to Sam telling Dean about a web site that anyone could read about, a supposed ghost haunting.

Dean scoffed at it.

"Look, we let Dad take off," Sam reminded him. "Which was a mistake, by the way."

"Yeah, so was leaving behind your niece," Dean mumbled under his breath.

"Huh?" Sam asked.

"Nothing," he told Sam, calmly.

"Anyway, we have no idea where he is, so in the meantime, we gotta find something to hunt. There's no harm in checking this thing out," Sam shrugged.

"Well, all I'm saying is, it better not take more than a week. We have to be in Sioux Falls."

Sam threw his head back, letting out a breath of air in frustration. "When are we gonna finish discussing this, Dean?" he asked, picking his head back up.

"There's no discussion, Sam," Dean said. "As soon as Sarah's eye is better, she's coming back. I promised her she could have a part in all this."

"Which is crap, by the way."

Dean glanced over at Sam while still keeping an eye on the road. "This demon affects her, too. I don't know if you remember or not but her aunt was killed by this thing, the same way Mom was. She's also psychic like you. You saw what Meg could do, Sam. I'm pretty sure the demon probably has other followers, as well. Sarah needs to be us. Okay. End of discussion."

"Dean, don't you remember what Dad said? Shoot, it was you who reminded _me_ in the first place. If it's too dangerous for us, then it's defiantly too dangerous for Sarah. You have to let her sit this one out."

"She's a great hunter, Sam. She learns quick and she can fight, and last I checked, we could use all the help we can get."

Sam shook his head. This wasn't about Sarah being a great hunter. It was about Dean wanting to protect his daughter himself without any help from no one. It was about having his family with him at all times, because he was afraid of losing them if they weren't there. "You know what, Dean."

"Yeah, what's that?" he asked, staring ahead as he gripped the steering wheel in one hand.

"You want to call me a selfish bastard when you're probably the most selfish than I am."

Dean smirked forward. "Yeah, I'm selfish. Selfish for wanting what's best for my kid," he told himself, out loud, sarcastically.

"The safest place would be away from all this and just going to school, being a kid. You heard the doctor, Dean. Sarah was lucky to still have use of her eye."

Dean ignored him.

"So, that's it. Sarah's gonna continue hunting?"

Dean banged his thumb on the steering wheel to the beat of the music, "Yup."

Sam leaned his arm on his door as he mumbled, "Why don't you just kill her and save her the pain?"

Dean still heard his brother, though. He slammed on the brake and pulled off to the side, getting out and slammed the car door shut. Dean walked away as Sam stepped out of the car next.

"Dude, what the hell is your problem?" Sam demanded, following after his brother.

Dean stopped and just stood there. He wiped his hand along his face and through his hair. Dean turned his head towards Sam. "Do you think I want this life for my daughter? I mean, do you think I enjoy watching her clean guns and research local legends and news articles instead of playing her video game and playing catch with me?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know, Dean," he told him, quietly. "I do see you two having fun, but I also see you training her the way Dad trained us. I don't know what to believe."

"I hate it, okay? I just plain hate it. I hate the fact I put Sarah through all this. I hate the fact that she got seriously hurt the other night. But this is our life and if Sarah wants to walk away from it when she turns eighteen, she can."

Sam shifted on his feet, his hands in his jacket pockets. "That's the thing, Dean. She never wants to walk away from it. Sarah told me, she wants to continue with the family business when she grows up. She even said she thinks it'll be cool to be a hunter on the back of a motorcycle."

Dean looked straight ahead, a smirk flashed across his face when he heard what his little girl wanted. But the smirk quickly disappeared when he realized Sarah was now a brainwashed soldier. This wasn't a life he would wish on anyone, let alone his own kid.

"It's not too late to change her mind, Dean," Sam broke into his brother's thoughts. "You want to be a good dad, then do the right thing and pull Sarah out of this. At least for a few years, if not any."

Dean looked at his brother one last time, and responded, "No. If Sarah wants in this, then I say we let her. At least she's not fighting on what's important unlike you did." With that, Dean went back to the Impala and got back inside.

Sam let out another deep breath, looking around before he followed.

Sarah came down the stairs in a blue, _Pokémon _T-shirt and black shorts, jumping from the third to last step. She landed in a crouching position, catching herself with her hands, before standing up and hurrying into Bobby's study.

"Good morning, Uncle Bobby," she greeted as she walked up to where he was sitting at his desk, researching a creature for another hunter.

He looked up at the little girl. "Morning, Sarah," he replied. "Hungry?"

"Yeah, but don't worry, I can get it. You look busy."

Bobby chuckled to himself as he watched Sarah head into the kitchen and climb onto the counter to open the cabinet where her favorite cereal, Trix was. She also reached into the one next to the cabinet to grab a bowl.

"After you eat, come here and I'll give ya yer drops," Bobby called over to her.

"Okay," she replied, jumping down. Sarah then took the cereal and bowl over to the kitchen table and poured the cereal inside the bowl before fetching the milk from the fridge. Once her breakfast was made and everything was put away, Sarah started eating.

After a few minutes, Bobby's cell phone rang from his desk. Picking it up, he opened it and saw it was a text from Dean. _When is that boy gonna learn I don't use instant text messaging?_ Bobby thought to himself. He opened the text and saw a picture of Sam sleeping with a spoon in his mouth. Underneath, it said, _This is for Sarah. She'll get it._

"Sarah, you have a text message from your dad," he told Sarah.

Sarah leaned back on her left hand, holding her spoon in her other hand on the table. "What's it say?"

"He sent ya a picture of your Uncle Sam, and that you would understand. Care to come explain it?"

Sarah stood up from the chair and walked over to him where he showed her the picture. Sarah burst out laughing when she saw it. "That is awesome," she laughed.

"Let me guess, your daddy and uncle still pranks each other, don't they?" Bobby took a wild guess.

She shook her head, "No, Dad and I just like picking on Uncle Sammy. It's so easy and funny."

"You two are awful, you know that?" Bobby smirked, shaking his head as he looked at the picture again.

Sarah laughed some more until Bobby told her to go finish her breakfast or he'd gave her something to laugh about.

After Sarah finished eating and received her treatment, she lied on the couch, up-side down, playing her PSP. When Bobby finished his work, he stood up from his desk and headed upstairs. He returned and tossed a baseball glove at Sarah. It landed in front of her view of her video game, surprising Sarah who sat up, immediately.

"You're not sitting around the house all week," he told her. "Your dad says you like to play catch so the two of us are gonna go toss the ball around."

Sarah agreed and hurried upstairs for her shoes before following Bobby outside to an open area, facing each other with a few feet between them. Bobby tossed the baseball overhand at her. Sarah caught it and tossed it back.

"Make sure you keep that elbow in," Bobby told her when he caught it and then tossed it back.

Sarah caught the ball in her glove and held the ball up, positioning her elbow how Bobby told her to.

Bobby nodded, "Just like that, kid."

Sarah then tossed it at him, who barely caught it.

"Nice throw there."

She smirked. "I made my dad have to go fetch it, once because I threw it so far."

"So, you're a tomboy, huh?" he asked, tossing it back to her.

Sarah had to move to the right to catch it, that time. "Yeah, ever since I can remember. Mom hated it, but Dad says I can be anything I want to be," she told him, proudly and tossed the ball back.

Back and forth, they tossed the ball while they talked. Bobby asked about growing up with her mother, but mostly about Sarah in general. Sarah openly told him everything, including her mother's death. It was sad, but slowly Sarah was losing feeling towards her mother. As she talked about her, Bobby could sense that the little girl just did not care anymore. Sarah told him she only loved her mother to a certain point, by now.

The next day, Bobby offered to take her by her grandparents' house since it was a two-hour drive from his house since Sarah still remembered their address. The whole way there, Sarah could hardly sit still in anticipation of seeing her grandparents again.

When Bobby pulled up to the gate, Sarah told him the code and he punched it in before driving right through. She then directed him to the right house. When Bobby pulled up to the house, he stared in shock at the huge two-story house.

"I thought you said your mom worked two jobs," he said.

"Yeah, but Gram and Papa are retired," she told him before opening her door. "Come on, Uncle Bobby." They both got out of the car and walked up to the front, double doors. Just like Dean, Bobby also tried to ignore the many eyes staring back at him.

Sarah rang the doorbell and a few moments later, Greg Holden answered the door, surprised to see his granddaughter there. "Hi, Papa," she greeted him, happily.

"Sarah? Is that you?" he replied.

She nodded up at her grandfather and went over to hug him. Greg kneeled on one knee to hug his granddaughter in return, lifting her up, into his arms as he stood up to let Bobby in.

He held out his hand to Bobby after shutting the door. "I'm Greg Holden, Sarah's grandfather."

Bobby returned the handshake. "Bobby Singer, pleased to meet you," he nodded at the man.

"Um, where's her father?" he asked.

"Uh, he and his brother are on an errand for the whole week. I'm taking care of Sarah until he gets back," Bobby explained.

When Greg got a good look at his granddaughter, he noticed the bandage on her eye. "Sarah, what happened to your eye?" he asked of her.

Sarah hesitated at first, trying to think of a good lie. "Uh…um… Dog," she blurted out. "Really big dog. Scratched me right across the eye."

Greg knew his granddaughter though and could tell when she was lying. He carried her inside the living room where a woman his age was folding laundry while she watched a daytime soap opera. Greg sat her in an arm chair and peeled away part of the bandage. Her eye was partly closed now but there was no blood whatsoever.

He replaced the bandaged and asked her for the truth but Sarah continued to say that a dog did it. Bobby had not thought about whether they would question about her eye and was now regretting it. He was glad when Greg just decided to drop it, remembering how stubborn his granddaughter could be.

Sarah then hurried over to give the woman a hug. "I missed you, Gram," she told her.

Her grandmother hugged her back, "I missed you, too, my little angel. What have you been up to? Staying out of trouble, I hope." She winked at the little girl.

Sarah smirked, "Of course, Gram."

Greg was sitting on the arm of the chair Sarah had been sitting in. "Bobby, this is my wife, Beth," he introduced which Bobby and Beth shook hands.

"So, what brings you here?" Beth asked her granddaughter and Bobby.

"I live two hours away in Sioux Falls and thought after all this time, Sarah would like to see her grandparents again," Bobby explained, sitting beside her on the couch.

Beth smiled at Sarah, who was sitting in between them. "Well, we have sure missed you, angel."

"Are you out of school for the summer yet, Sarah?" asked Greg.

Sarah looked over at her grandfather. "I don't go to school, anymore. My uncle, Sam homeschools me now."

"Your uncle? I thought your father said he was in college."

"He was but he left when his girlfriend died. It hurt him that much." Sarah tried very hard to not mention the family business but still kept some truth in it.

"I'm very sorry to hear that," Greg told her. "Tell him he is in our prayers."

Sarah smiled at her grandfather, "Thanks, Papa. I will."

They visited for most of the day. Sarah had a lot of fun visiting her grandparents, telling them about how great Dean was and how much fun they had picking on Sam. Greg asked why she had turned down Mark's offer but by hearing how much she and Dean had bonded, he understood why. Both Greg and Beth had always known Sarah to be mature but she seemed different than they remembered. She was happier and cheerful. They could also see something different in her eye. Something that defiantly wasn't there before. Whatever Dean did, Greg and Beth couldn't be more proud. Of course, if they knew the truth, they probably wouldn't be.

Over the next few days, Sarah helped Bobby out around the house like her father told her to do. Mostly with the cars and in the kitchen. There was a few times when she helped him with some research for a hunter, now and then but that would be kept between Bobby and Sarah.

One evening, Dean called to check in like he had done every evening. "Hey, baby girl," he told her. "Did you have another fun day?"

Sarah sat on the couch, in Bobby's study. "Sure did. Uncle Bobby and I fixed an old Mustang today. Washed it, too. Guess what?"

Dean smiled, "What?"

"I got him with the hose, but then he got me back," she told him.

"You did, huh?"

Sarah nodded, "Uh huh." She was talking on Bobby's cell phone. "How's the hunt? Did you figure out what it is you're hunting?"

"Yeah, it's a Tulpa. It's a Tibetan thought form," Dean explained to her. "A bunch of people believe in this Mordachai spirit and he changes shape. So, we made up a story ourselves to kill it. We're actually heading out to the house right now."

"Wait, Dad," Sarah said. "I've been thinking about this. You said Mordachai couldn't leave the house, right?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"What if you just burn the house? He can't haunt a house if there's no house to haunt."

There was silence as Dean thought on what his daughter said. "Good point, Sarah. That will be Plan B if our plan backfires." It then dawned on him. "Hey, didn't I say no thinking of hunting, this week?"

"Uh…" Sarah hesitated, trying to think up an excuse. When she couldn't, she told him, "I couldn't help it, Daddy. It's stuck in my brain now. I want to hunt again."

"I know you do, baby girl. Once we're done with Mordachai, we'll come get ya," he assured her. "How's your eye?"

"It's feeling a lot better now," she said. "It barely hurts anymore and I can open it again."

"That's great," Dean praised, happily.

Sam called from the background, "Dean, come on. We have to go!"

"I have to go, baby girl," he told her.

"Okay, call me afterwards. I want to hear all about it."

Dean smiled, "I will. I love you."

"I love you, too, Dad."

They both hung up. Sarah sat there, staring at the phone. She wished she was there with them, taking down Mordachai. It wasn't fair. Why did she have to get hurt and have to sit out from a hunt? Sarah was itching to get back out there. She lied down on her side and continued staring at the phone, waiting until her father would call back.

Dean sat on the bed in the motel room, staring at his phone, too. It just wasn't a hunt without his little girl right there, beside him, making smartass remarks or laughing at his humor, or just having his back like Sam. It was still torturing him not having her there.

Finally, after another call from Sam, they headed out to Mordachai's house.

Sarah had fallen asleep, clutching Bobby's phone in her hand. Bobby tried to wake her to eat but she continued sleeping. He also tried to pry the phone from her hand but soon found out how much of a grip the kid had.

When Bobby turned to head back into the kitchen, he heard her softly talking in her sleep and realized she must have been dreaming about her father.

A few hours later, Sarah was awakened by the cell phone ringing. She sat up as the blanket Bobby had covered her with, fell around her waist and looked at the screen. It said Dean on it. Opening the phone up, Sarah put it to her ear, "Daddy?"

"Hey, baby girl," he replied. "Your idea worked. Mordachai is gone and we're on our way to pick you up. Should be at Bobby's place by tomorrow morning."

A big smile appeared on her face. When they hung up, Sarah ran up to Bobby's bedroom and jumped on the old hunter, scaring the heck out of him. "Daddy's coming in the morning, Uncle Bobby," she told him, excitedly.

"That's great, now go back to bed," he told her, sternly and tiredly.

"I'm hungry, though," she admitted, sitting back on her legs.

"Should have woken up when I tried to wake you earlier."

"That's not fair, Uncle Bobby," Sarah told him.

"Dinnertime is at dinnertime, not at midnight."

Sarah folded her arms. "I'll call my dad then and he'll agree it's unfair, too."

Bobby sat up from his pillow. "Sarah, I tried waking you up for dinner, for ten minutes and you still were sleeping. Your dad may feed ya whenever you're hungry but here, when you sleep right through dinner, that's it. You can wait 'til breakfast."

"But I'm hungry," she tried to plead with him.

He only just shrugged, "And I'm sorry but that's my rule."

Sarah looked down at the bed. "It's a stupid rule," she pouted.

Bobby reached out and pulled the little girl into his arms. "After that big lunch we had today, I think you'll survive," he smiled down at her.

Sarah couldn't help but giggle that that and snuggled into his chest. When she fell back to sleep, Bobby carried her into the bedroom she had been staying in and laid her down on the bed, covering her up.

The next morning, Sarah woke bright and early on her own. Which was a first for her, by the way. She quickly got dressed and went downstairs to make herself a bowl of cereal. As she drank down the leftover milk, she could hear the familiar engine of the Impala pull up towards the house and ran outside just as Dean was getting out of the car.

Sarah leaped off the porch and ran over to her father, who scooped her up, into his arms. She then squeezed his neck as he squeezed her back. "I missed you so much, Dad."

"I missed you, too, baby girl," Dean replied. After what seemed like a never-ending hug, Dean looked at her. "What do ya say, we get in some more practice while we're here?"

Sarah shrugged, "Sure."

Sam went inside the house after sharing a hug with his niece. Dean kneeled in the dirt and put his fists up.

"Okay," he said. "I want you to put your fists up like we're gonna fight."

Sarah raised her fists like her father.

"Now, I want you to punch me as hard as you can."

"But I don't want to hurt you, Dad," she told him.

"Trust me, you won't, baby girl. Now let's see you punch."

Sarah got into her fight pose and pulled back her fist, before letting go. Dean blocked it with the back of his left arm. He shook his head and told her what she was doing wrong in her punches, showing his daughter how it should look, off to the side. When Sarah had it, he stood up and had a fake sparing match, also showing how Sarah could use her small size to her advantage.

The two of them went at it all morning, with Bobby and Sam watching from the sidelines, each having a beer. They couldn't believe Dean was so stubborn about his daughter hunting but overall, he was Sarah's father and had the final say in making decisions about her.


	33. Chapter 33

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 33

Sam leaned against the hood of the Impala as he watched his niece climb up the jungle jim over on the playground with another little girl. John had sent them coordinates to Fitchburg, Wisconsin on another hunt but did not tell them what they would be hunting and Sam did not find anything suspicious when he researched the area.

Dean walked up with two cups of coffee and handed one to his brother. Well," he said, "Waitress thinks that the local Freemans are up to something sneaky, but, uh, other than that, nobody's heard of anything weird going on."

Sam was listening but wouldn't take his eyes from the deserted playground. There were maybe couple kids, not counting Sarah, playing right now, considering this was the time of day when kids are usually playing. "Dean, you got the time?"

Dean pulled back his jacket sleeve and looked at his watch. "Ten after four." He looked up at Sam. "Why?"

Sam nodded over at the playground, "What's wrong with this picture?"

Dean looked over there to see for himself. Now, just Sarah and the other girl was there. "School's out isn't it?"

"Yeah," he replied. "So where is everybody? This place should be crawling with kids right now."

Dean agreed. He noticed a woman sitting over on a bench, guessing it was the girl's mother and walked over to her, holding his coffee. When he walked up to the edge of the playground, Sarah was hanging upside down from the top of the jungle gym.

She waved to her father, "Hi, Dad."

He waved back with the fingers that was around his cup while the other hand was dug into his pocket. "Hey, Sar. Be careful, would ya?"

Sarah lifted herself up to grab onto the top bar and held on while she pulled her legs out, continuing a conversation she was having with the girl. "So your friend's sick in the hospital?" she asked her.

The little girl nodded. "She was okay one day but wasn't the next."

Sarah was sitting crouched on a bar, holding on to the top one. "Was she coughing or sneezing?"

She shook her head.

"Amazing kid, you have there," the woman on the bench was telling Dean. "She's very curious for someone her age."

Dean smirked over at his daughter. "Yeah. Thanks," he replied and took a look around. "Sure is quiet out here."

The woman looked up from her reading again. "Yeah, it's a shame."

"Why's that?" he asked.

"You know, kids getting sick," she said. "It's a terrible thing."

"How many?"

"Just five or six, but serious. Hospital serious." She returned to her reading. "A lot of parents are getting pretty anxious. They think it's catching."

"Should I be worried then?" he asked, glancing over at Sarah before returning to the woman.

She shrugged back, "Just watch out for her. Make sure the window's shut and latched."

Dean returned to watching the kids, "Hm."

The Winchesters decided to head over to the hospital next to see if they could get more information on the children getting sick.

"Dude," Sam told Dean, holding a fake ID in his hand. "Dude, I am not using this ID."

Dean asked, "Why not?"

"Because it says, 'Bikini Inspector' on it," he said.

Sarah looked up at her uncle, strangely. "Why do you have that?" she asked him.

"Your dad gave it to me, peanut," he told her. They were all talking in a low voice so no one would hear them.

Dean was grinning about the ID. "Don't worry, she won't look that close, all right?" He assured his brother. "Hell, she won't even ask to see it. It's all about confidence, Sammy." With that, Dean pushed Sam around to face the nurse behind the front desk.

Sam stared at the nurse for a moment before he introduced himself, "Hi. I'm, uh, Dr. Jerry Kaplan. Center for Disease Control."

The nurse folded her hands together on the desk, "Can I see some ID?"

Dean snickered, looking away as Sam looked over at him. Sam returned to the nurse and showed her the ID. Well, the back of it, anyway. He then asked for directions to the Pediatrics ward and turned away, thankful it was over.

On the way, Dean caught sight an old woman sitting with her back turned, in a wheelchair. Over on the wall was an upside down cross, hanging on the wall. It made him suspicious about her.

Sarah stopped and walked back to her father, looking around the wall at what he was looking at. "What's wrong, Dad?" she asked him.

"Nothing, right now. I'll tell you later," he told her before walking again.

In the Pediatrics ward, they spoke to a doctor by the name of Dr. Heidecker. He explained how their first thought was pneumonia until the usual antibiotics weren't working in their systems and learned that the children's white blood cells were lowering. No one knew what it was and no child was conscious either. And it was spreading through siblings, as well.

They spoke to one of the parents and learned that it had started with the oldest child the first night, then the youngest, the next. Sam was figuring it was just a normal case of pneumonia while Dean had a doubt that it wasn't. So, since the father they talked to wasn't going to be home for a while, the Winchesters decided to search the house.

Dean and Sarah each ran the EMF readers around the children's bedroom while Sam used a blue light. They weren't coming up with anything.

"Kid has a lot of teddy bears," Sarah noted, holding hers up to the window on one side of the bed.

"Yeah, usually what a little girl has," Dean teased her. "Not a monkey whose ass looks like it's on fire." Since Sarah got some of her toys back from her grandparents, Dean loved teasing her about some of them. He wasn't serious and Sarah knew it.

Sarah gave her father a fake glare as Sam was opening another window. "Dean, you were right," he told his brother. "It's not pneumonia."

Dean and Sarah walked over to the window. Dean looked down at the windowsill to a black, rotted-in handprint of what looked like a skeleton's hand. The fingers were long and thin, including the thumb. Sarah got a look at it, too.

"It's rotted," Sam observed as Dean leaned on his hands. "What the hell leaves a handprint like that?"

Dean recognized it, immediately and knew what they were dealing with. He did not answer though. He was recalling a time when John was leaving for a hunting trip as a young Dean was staring at a picture of the same kind of handprint. Dean snapped out of it when he realized Sarah was shaking his right arm, trying to get his attention.

"You okay, Dad?" she asked when he was back to the present.

"Yeah," he told her. To Sam, "I know why Dad sent us here." Dean stood up straight, still staring at the handprint. "He faced this thing before. He wants us to finish the job."

"Wait, the same exact creature?" asked Sarah. "Grandpa didn't kill it?"

He shook his head. "No, it, uh, got away."

The Winchesters left the house and went in search of a motel, parking in front of the main office.

"So, what the hell is a shtriga?" Sam asked, stepping out of the Impala and shutting his door.

Dean and Sarah got out on the other side, heading back towards the trunk. "It's a kind of witch, I think. I don't know much about'em."

"Well, I never heard of it and it's not in Dad's journal," he said.

"I think I might have something about them in one of my books." The name "shtriga" was sounding familiar to Sarah. She grabbed her stuffed monkey Pokémon when her father had the trunk open, clutching it to her.

Dean smiled at the sight. He loved when his daughter had a normal, kid reaction once in a while and though he would never admit it, out loud, thought it was cute. He shook his thoughts away to answer Sam. "Dad hunted one in Fort Douglas, Wisconsin about sixteen, seventeen years ago. You were there. You don't remember?"

"No," Sam replied.

"And I guess he caught wind of the thing in Fitchburg now and kicked us the coordinates," he continued.

Sam shifted his weight, "So wait, this…"

"Shtriga."

"Right. You think it's the same one Dad hunted before?" asked Sam.

Dean shut the trunk. "Yeah, maybe."

Sam followed after him as Dean headed for the motel's office. "But if Dad went after it, why is it still breathing air?"

"'Cause it got away," he answered.

"Got away?"

Dean stopped and looked back, "Yeah, Sammy. It happens."

Sarah was standing between her father and the Impala, listening to the brothers.

"Not very often," Sam pointed out.

"I don't know what to tell you," Dean shrugged. "Maybe Dad didn't have his Wheaties that morning"

"Ew, Grandpa eats that cereal?" asked Sarah. "Papa eats it, too. It doesn't taste good," she shook her head.

"Figure of speech, Sarah," Dean told her before he walked away. Why his daughter couldn't figure out figures of speech like everything else, he'll never understand.

Sarah followed after him.

Sam asked, "What else do you remember?"

Dean looked back over his right shoulder, "Nothing. I was a kid, all right?" and went inside. Sam stayed outside while Dean rented a room, ringing a bell and bringing a kid a lot older than Sarah out from the backroom.

"King or two queens?" the kid asked.

Dean glanced back at Sam, "Two queens."

The kid looked over at Sam, too and snickered, "Yeah, I bet."

"What'd you say?" he asked, sternly.

"Nice car," the kid smiled before a young woman came in the door Dean and Sarah had also come in.

"Hi," she said. "Checking in?"

"Yeah," Dean replied.

The woman looked at the kid. "Uh, do me a favor, go get your brother some dinner."

"I'm helping a guest," the kid tried to argue with her.

She gave him a look that told him to listen before walking around the long desk.

The kid nodded at Dean, "Two queens," he told her and went to feed his younger brother.

Dean chuckled, "Funny kid. Reminds me of my daughter here." He smiled down at Sarah who playfully punched his leg.

The woman was looking down, filling out a rental form. "Yeah, he thinks so. Will that be cash or credit?" She looked up.

"Do you take MasterCard?" he asked.

"Mm-hm," she replied.

"Prefect." Dean reached back into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, taking his credit card out and placed it on the desk. The woman took it and slid the rental form to him. Dean picked up the pen to start writing when he happened to glance up as the kid was pouring his younger brother a glass of milk. He thought about when he and Sam were kids, doing the same thing.

Sarah was starting to get worried about her father especially when she couldn't see over the desk. "Dad, what's wrong? Dad." She tried to get his attention by pushing on his leg. "Dad." Sarah started getting frustrated until Dean finally snapped out of it. "Dad, what's going on? You've been spacey all day."

"I'm fine, baby girl," he assured her, again. "Just a little tired, that's all."

Sarah folded her arms around her stuffed Pokémon's neck, staring up at her father. "You're lying, Dad."

Dean was filling out the rental form again. "Dude, I'm not sharing my personal stuff with a kid," he told her.

The woman was smiling at the pair. "Funny kid," she repeated what Dean had said to her.

Dean shook his head at the paper, smirking, "She thinks so."

Once Dean had the room key, the two of them headed back outside and drove over to their room, starting on their research. Sarah placed her duffel bag on one of the beds and crawled to the middle of it, sitting crossed-legged before opening the bag up. She removed her sweatshirt, tossing it beside her. It flew too far and ended up on the floor.

Sam was turning on his laptop, over on the other bed when he saw it happen. "Sarah, it that where your sweatshirt belongs?" he asked of his niece when she didn't move to retrieve it.

Sarah looked over where she had tried to aim and saw her sweatshirt wasn't there. She got up, onto her hands and knees to look over the edge, dropping onto her stomach to reach down and pick it up, putting it on the bed.

"Thank you, peanut," he told her, relieved there was no argument involved that time. Sometimes, Sarah preferred to give her uncle a hard time when he asked her to do something she did not care about.

"Mm-hm," she nodded, digging out her books on monster lore and started skimming through one of them.

Sam watched her as his laptop booted up. It pained his heart to see his niece so involved in hunting and research. It didn't seem natural to him. When Sarah finished one book, she grabbed another and skimmed through that one.

After half an hour, Sarah found what she was looking for. She knew the word, "shtriga" sounded familiar to her. She found it when Sam had come across a web site, explaining the same thing.

"I want to tell it, Uncle Sam," she interrupted her uncle. "You always get to do it."

Sam looked over at her. "No I don't," he smiled at his niece.

"Uh huh," she argued.

"Nuh uh," he teased her.

"Uh huh."

Back and forth, they went. Sarah did not know that her uncle was only playing with her, and was starting to get upset. Finally, Dean just couldn't take it, anymore.

"Would someone start talking already? I don't care who, just do it."

Sam laughed, softly. "Go ahead, peanut."

Sarah looked down at her book that lay open in her lap and read what a shtriga was, out loud, messing up on the Latin terms. Sam was still working with her on those. Sarah had the words down for the most part. There was just a word now and then that messed her up. Still, it was impressive by how much she did know of the language.

"Spiritus vitae," Sam helped her out.

Sarah repeated it to him.

"Right," he nodded at her.

"Spirit what?" Dean questioned, leaning on the counter, surrounded by books, as well.

"Spiritus vitae," Sam repeated, "It translates to 'breath of life.' Kind of like your life force or essence."

Dean was writing something down. "Didn't the doctor say, the kids' bodies were wearing out?" he asked.

Sam nodded, "It's a thought. You know, she takes your vitality, maybe your immunity goes to hell. Pneumonia takes hold."

"Do you think it'll come after me?" Sarah asked Sam.

Sam was about to answer when Dean beat him to it. "Don't worry, baby girl. I am not gonna let that happen to you. The shtriga isn't coming within ten feet of you. Now, come on. Continue reading or let Sam take over."

Sarah looked over at her uncle before she finished reading. When she read the part where shtrigas couldn't be killed, Dean intervened.

"No, that's not right," he said, walking towards them. "She's vulnerable when she feeds."

Sarah looked between her father and the book. "But it doesn't say that in here."

Dean was going through his bag that was on the foot of the bed Sarah was sitting on. "Because no one knows about it, but if you catch her while she's eating, you can blast her with consecrated wrought iron. Uh, buckshots or rounds, I think."

"Is that what Grandpa used?" she asked.

"Yup, that's what I remember he told me, anyway."

Sam huffed, "Oh. So, uh, anything else Dad mighta mentioned?"

Dean glanced up from the book he was looking through, back at the counter now. "No, that's it." Sam continued to stare at his brother. "What?"

Sam finally looked away, "Nothing."

Sarah was watching both brothers. "There's not gonna be another fight, is there?" she asked of them.

"What makes you say that, peanut?"

"Because Dad's not talking and I heard you do your deep breathing thing you sometimes do."

Sam repeated, "My 'deep breathing thing?'"

"You know, that thing you do when you're annoyed with Dad."

He turned off his laptop. "No, peanut, we're not gonna fight." He stood up and walked over, towards Dean, "Okay. So, assuming we can kill it when it eats, we still gotta find the thing first, which ain't gonna be a cakewalk. Shtrigas take a human disguise when they're not hunting."

"What kind of human disguise?" Dean asked.

"The book says, a feeble old woman," Sarah answered her father.

It made sense to Dean as he turned around and picked up a map of the neighborhood. "Check this out."

Sarah got up from the bed to head over to where the men were. Dean lifted her up with his left arm and sat her on the counter so he could show her and Sam.

"I marked down the addresses of the victims," he explained, pointing at each house he had circled. "Now, these are the houses that have been hit so far and dead center…"

"The hospital," finished Sam.

"The hospital," Dean repeated. "When we were there, I saw a patient, an old woman."

Sam looked between the map and Dean. "An old person, huh?"

"Yeah."

"In the hospital?" he asked. "Whoo. Better call the coast guard." Sam turned away, snickering to himself.

"Quit being a smartass, Uncle Sam," Sarah scolded her uncle. "Dad knows what he's talking about."

"Yeah, smartass," Dean agreed. "Now listen. The woman had an inverted cross hanging on her wall."

Sam looked back at him, at that as Dean raised his eyebrows. So, they decided to head back to the hospital.


	34. Chapter 34

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 34

To say the second visit to the hospital was a success would be a lie. The Winchesters headed straight for the old woman's room. Dean pulled his gun from behind him while Sarah pulled hers from her sweatshirt pocket. Yes, Dean had finally graduated his little girl from the easy-to-use shotgun to her own pistol. He felt she was ready for it.

Sam opened the door, carefully, letting the other two go in first before he followed inside, closing it behind him. He then took his own gun out, from behind him and the three of them surrounded the old woman. Long story, short: The shtriga wasn't her.

When they returned to the motel after grabbing breakfast, with Sam and Sarah teasing Dean, they noticed the kid from the night before sitting outside. Sarah was instantly drawn to him and hurried over to the kid.

"What's wrong?" she asked him as her father and uncle walked up behind her.

The kid looked up at her, "My brother's sick."

Dean kneeled down to their levels. "The little guy?" he asked the kid.

He nodded, "Pneumonia. He's in the hospital. It's my fault."

Sarah shook her head. "Trust me, it isn't your fault."

"No, I should have made sure the window was latched. He wouldn't have gotten pneumonia if the window was latched."

"Listen to me," Dean told him. "Sarah, here, is right. I can promise you that it's not your fault. Okay?"

The kid looked at him, "It's my job to look after him."

The kid's mother came out from the office, carrying a teddy bear, pillow, blanket, and her purse. "Michael," she told the kid who stood up, following her to a dark blue SUV. "I want you to turn on the _No Vacancy _sign while I'm gone. I got Denise covering room service, so don't bother with any of the rooms."

"I'm going with you," he tried to protest.

"Not now, Michael," she said.

"But I gotta see Asher."

Dean walked over to the mother and son, followed by Sam and Sarah. "Hey, Michael. Hey, I know how you feel. I'm a big brother, too. But you gotta go easy on your mom, right now, okay?"

"Damn it," Michael's mother said when she dropped her purse as she shut the car door. Sam quickly went over and picked it up for her, handing it to the woman who thanked him.

Dean offered to drive her to the hospital and told Sam and Sarah that he wanted the shtriga dead for sure. After they left, Sam and Sarah headed to the library to find out what they could. Sam checked old newspapers as Sarah looked beside him.

After a while, Sam called Dean. "Hey. How's the kid?" he asked.

"He's not good," Dean replied. "Where you at?"

"At the library, trying to find out as much as we can about this shtriga."

"Yeah? What do you got?" he asked.

"Well, bad news," Sam began. "We, uh, started with, uh, with Fort Douglas around the time you said Dad was there."

"And?"

"Same deal. Before that, there was, uh, there was Ogdenville. Before that, North Haverbrook and Brockway. Every fifteen to twenty years it hits a new town." Sam shook his head. "Dean, this thing is just getting started in Fitchburg. And all these other places, it goes on for months, dozens of kids, before the shtriga finally moves on. Kids just languish in comas, and then they die."

"How far back this thing go?" asked Dean.

"Uh, I don't know," he admitted. "Earliest mention we could find is this place called Black River Falls, back in the 1890's. Huh. Talk about a horror show." Sam flipped through each article until he came to one with a picture of a bunch of doctors standing around a child's bed. Sarah who had been scanning each one, the whole time picked up someone familiar in the back of the picture.

"Uncle Sam," she pointed to the screen, "Doesn't that look like Dr. Heidecker?"

Sam got a look for himself. "Whoa, you're right, peanut."

"Sam?" Dean asked.

"We're looking at a photograph right now of a bunch of doctors standing around a kid's bed. One of the doctors is Heidecker."

"And?"

"And this picture was taken in 1893," he told him.

Sarah whistled like she heard her father do, or tempted to, at least. "The guy's really old," she said as Sam wiped his left arm on his shirt.

"That's gross, Sarah," he told her.

"What?" Dean asked again.

"Your kid just spit all over my arm, trying to whistle."

Dean cleared his throat, "So, are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure, Dean. I could feel it all over."

"No, man. I mean about Heidecker."

"Oh, yeah. Absolutely."

With that, Dean hung up and looked back at Dr. Heidecker, who was tending to Michael's brother.

The Winchesters met back up at their motel room. "Should have thought about this before," Sam was saying as he paced around the room. "Doctor's perfect disguise. You're trusted. You can control the whole thing."

"Actually, I never found any doctor trusting," Sarah pointed out from the bed where she was lying on her stomach. Her green army men were lined up in front of her. "They may act all nice at first but then suddenly they pull out this needle and poke you with it."

Dean stood up and threw off his jacket. "That son of a bitch."

"I'm surprised you didn't draw on him, right there," Sam told his brother.

"Yes, because that would have been a great idea, shooting a gun off in a pediatric ward where there's mostly kids," Sarah replied, sarcastically.

"Now who's being the smartass?" he asked her.

Sarah did not respond to that.

Dean came from the bathroom, dabbing his neck with a towel and tossed it away. "Besides, it wouldn't have done any good because the bastard's bulletproof unless it's chowin' down on something. And I wasn't packing either, which is probably a good thing because I probably would have burned a clip in him."

"You're getting wise in your old age, Dean," said Sam.

"You're damn right 'cause now I know how we're gonna get it."

Sam looked over at him. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"The shtriga works through siblings," Dean pointed out. "Right?"

"Right."

Sarah sat up, onto her legs. "Dad, where are you going with this?" she asked, not liking where she thought this was headed.

Dean looked between them, "Well, last night…"

"It went after Asher," Sam finished.

"So I'm thinking, tonight, it's coming after Michael."

"Then we gotta get him outta here," he said.

"No, no. That'd blow the whole deal," Dean told him.

"What are ya, nuts?" Sarah couldn't believe what her father just said.

"You mean you want to use the kid as bait?" asked Sam.

Dean nodded.

"No, forget it, that's out of the question, Dean," he said.

"It's not out of the question. If this thing disappears, it could be years before we get another chance."

"What's with you, Dean?" Sam asked of his brother. "Michael's a kid just like Sarah is. I may have shut my mouth about Sarah hunting but I will not let you dangle Michael in front of that thing like a worm on a hook."

"Dad did not send me here to walk away," Dean shot back.

"Send _you_ here? He didn't send you here. He sent _us_ here."

Dean turned away, walking from him. "This isn't about you, Sam. All right? I'm the one who screwed up. It's my fault. There's no telling how many kids have gotten hurt because of me."

Sarah quickly got up from the bed as Sam asked, "What are you saying, Dean? How is it your fault?"

Dean stayed silent. Sarah hurried over to his side and looked up at him, taking his left hand in both of hers. "Dad, what's going on? You've been hiding something since we found that handprint. And don't say there's nothing wrong 'cause I can see right through you."

"Dean, talk to us, man," Sam sighed from behind him. "Since when does Dad bail on a hunt? Since when does he let something get away?"

"Uh, what about the woman in white?" Sarah pointed out as Dean walked over to sit down on one of the beds.

Sam ignored his niece, more concerned about his older brother at that moment. "Tell us what's going on."

Dean didn't answer right away. "Fort Douglas, Wisconsin," he began. "It was, uh, the third night in this crap room, and I was climbin' the walls, man. I needed to get some air." Dean told them the night when John hunted the shtriga first and how it got away. As he told it, Sam had gone over to sit on the other bed. Sarah went over to her father and wrapped her arms around his neck to comfort him. "Dad just grabbed us and booked. Dropped us off at Pastor Jim's about three hours away. By the time he got back to Fort Douglas, the shtriga disappeared. It was…It was just gone. It never resurfaced until now. Heh," he forced a small laugh. "You know, Dad never spoke about it again. I didn't ask. But he, uh…" Dean paused. "He looked at me different, you know? Which was worse. Not that I blame him. He gave me an order and I didn't listen. I almost got you killed, Sam." He looked at Sarah, who was standing in front of him, listening. "That's why I'm so hard on you, baby girl. Why I tell you not to leave the motel without one of us. Why I want you with me."

"You were just a kid," Sam told him.

Dean continued to look at his daughter. "Don't, Sam," he shook his head. "Don't. Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. He sent me here to finish it."

Sam looked at the floor then back at his brother. "But usin' Michael…"

"I'll do it!" Sarah blurted from nowhere.

Sam and Dean looked at her.

"We'll send Michael somewhere else and I'll hide in his bed."

Dean shook his head. "No, Sarah. I won't have any of that."

"No, Dad. It's bad enough I know what's out there but at least with me taking his place, he won't have to. I'm a kid, too. It will gladly feed on me as it would him."

"Once you pull a gun out, it will run, Sarah," he told her.

"Then you and Uncle Sam come running in and shoot at it. I trust you can do that, Dad. Just don't let Michael do it."

"It's too risky, peanut," said Sam. "Maybe one of us can hide under the covers."

"No, it has to be close enough to feed," said Dean. Even though it pained him to say it, he agreed to let Sarah take Michael's place.

Sarah hurried over to the motel office to talk to Michael. "Michael, my family and I know of a way to save Asher," she told him.

"How?" he asked, coming around the front desk, towards her.

"I can't tell you that but we need to use your room. Do you have anywhere you can go for the night?"

"My friend, Josh lives just down the street," he shrugged.

"Perfect. So, can we use your room? I promise we won't take or touch nothing…besides your bed."

"Um, sure if it'll help my little brother."

So, Michael packed an overnight bag and got on his bike, headed to his friend's house, letting Denise know. Sam hooked up a surveillance camera from his laptop as Dean sat up the actual camera in the boys' room.

"You sure you want to do this, Sarah?" he asked, adjusting the camera angle.

Sarah pushed back the comforter on Michael's bed and sat down on the edge. She let out a deep breath. "I'm sure, Dad. Anything to keep Michael safe and end this thing once and for all."

Dean walked over and sat next to his daughter. "I just want to tell you how proud I am of you for doing this especially when every ounce of my body is telling me not to let you."

Sarah looked up at her father from her lap. "Can I just ask one thing before we start this?" she asked.

"Yeah, anything," he said.

"Does this mean Grandpa hates you?"

Dean glanced up at the camera, knowing Sam was probably listening. He looked back at Sarah and shook his head. "No, your grandfather still loves me. He was just very disappointed. Like I was, when you didn't follow an order once or twice. But that doesn't mean I would love you any less and the same goes for your grandfather. I know he still cares."

"So, this isn't to redeem yourself with him?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, just to finish what was started."

Sarah stood up, onto her knees and hugged his neck again and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Dean returned them both before she got underneath the comforter, lying down.

"Now, when we come bursting through the door, you drop under the bed and do not come out until one of us says so. Understand?"

She nodded at him. "Yes, sir."

Dean gave her one more kiss before he made his way next door to sit with his brother, his eyes glued to the screen. His mind kept screaming out not to let this happen. He wanted to run back in there and grab Sarah out of there. What if he couldn't get there in time? What if the shtriga got Sarah before he could shoot it? Why he agreed to this, he wasn't sure. Dean just wanted to hurry up and get it over with.

Sarah hid under the covers, waiting in the dark room. She looked around the room at the boys' many toys. There was a monster truck above her on the headboard that looked really cool to her. Occasionally, she had to take deep breaths as her heart thumped in anticipation. She wanted it to come already and get it over with.

"What time is it?" Dean asked Sam, his eyes still glued to the computer screen.

Sam checked his watch, "Three. You sure these iron rounds are gonna work?"

"Consecrated iron rounds," he corrected him. "And yeah, it's what Dad used last time."

"Hey, Dean," said Sam. "I'm sorry."

Dean looked back and forth between the screen and Sam. "For what?" he asked, confused.

He sighed, "You know. I've really given you a lot of crap for always following Dad's orders. And about Sarah, too. But I know why you do it."

Dean moaned, "Oh God. Kill me now."

Sam smiled at his brother.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared at the window. The window then opened slowly as the brothers got their guns out and cocked.

Sarah sunk deeper into the bed as a robed figure floated inside the room and over to the bed she was lying on. She gripped the comforter in her hands as she held her breath. It moved closer and closer until it hovered above her. The shtriga didn't even flinch when it realized it wasn't Michael. It just continued on with its goal as it opened its mouth.

The whole time, Dean had to hold back until the right moment to go running in there. If they didn't wait long enough, the shtriga would flee and he would mess it up once again. No, he had to wait just a bit longer. His heart felt like it would leap out of his chest as it beat in anxiety and fear.

Sam wasn't doing too well, either. Every ounce of him wanted to run in and stop it, too. He bit his lower lip as the shtriga moved closer and closer to his niece. His only niece. His little peanut. Sam felt just as much responsible for Sarah as Dean was.

"Now?" Sam asked Dean.

Dean wanted to say yes but instead said no. Both brothers fought the hardest battle they ever fought of jumping up and running in there. They were literally on the edge of their seats as the anticipation grew stronger.

Once Sarah saw a bright light emit from the shtriga's mouth and start to feed, she heard the door burst open and her father telling her to get down. She obeyed, quickly rolling off the bed and underneath as Sam and Dean started shooting. Sarah looked back to see the shtriga lying on the floor on the other side.

"You okay, baby girl?" Dean asked, his gun still raised.

"Yeah, Dad," she replied.

"Just sit tight," he told her and walked around the bed to get a look for himself. The shtriga was just lying there, on its back. Dean exchanged looks with Sam and was about to lower his gun when it suddenly shot towards him and knocked Dean back.

Sarah fought the urge to run over to her father when she saw him get thrown into the wall. She had to stay put and follow orders though.

Next, the shtriga went after Sam, knocking his gun out of his hands and thrown him into the opposite wall, landing on the other bed. The shtriga then held Sam down by his neck as Sam tried to reach for his gun. Sarah watched as her uncle struggled to reach it. When she saw it open its mouth, Sarah instantly reacted and quickly moved towards Sam's gun, picking it up and aimed at the shtriga. Both her and Dean had shot at once, both killing it in the head.

"You okay, little brother?" Dean asked Sam.

Sam gave him two thumbs up as he tried to catch his breath. He rolled off the bed, onto the floor, in front of where his niece was still sitting, on her legs. She put the gun down and moved a little closer to hug him before they stood up and joined Dean over by where the shtriga's now dead body was. Its mouth was wide open as the children's spirits were released from it.

Dean shot it a few more times as they continued to stare at it.

"Sorry I disobeyed another order, Dad," Sarah looked up at her father.

Dean was still catching his breath. "I'll let it slide…this one time…since you did it for Sam…but don't make it a habit."

Sarah nodded and then looked back at the monster, glad it was over.

As they packed up the Impala the next morning, Michael's mother walked up to them from her car.

"Hey, Joanna," Dean hurried over, meeting her halfway. "How's Asher doing?"

"Have you seen Michael?" she asked.

At that moment, Michael and Sarah came out of the office. Michael ran over, excited to see his mother.

"Hey," his mother hugged him.

"How's Ash?" he asked her.

"I got some good news. Your brother's gonna be just fine."

Really?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Really. No one can explain it. It's a… It's a miracle." His mother looked over at Dean and Sam. "They're gonna keep him overnight, for observation, but after that, he's coming home."

Michael smiled over at Sarah, who was standing behind him with her hands in her sweatshirt pockets.

She smiled in return.

Dean smiled, too. "That's great."

"How are all the other kids doing?" asked Sam.

"Good," said Joanna. "Real good. A bunch of them should be checking out in a few days. Dr. Travis says the ward's gonna be like a ghost town."

"Dr. Travis?" Sam questioned. "What about Dr. Heidecker?"

"Oh, he wasn't in today. Musta been sick or something."

"Yeah," said Dean. "Yeah, must have."

"So, did anything happen when I was gone?" Joanna asked her son.

"No, everything was calm enough so I went over to Josh's house to spend the night. I didn't like being alone," he lied to her.

"Really, because it looks like you made friends here." She smiled over at Sarah.

"I had stuff to do, last night," Sarah shrugged.

"Okay." Joanna turned back to Michael and said they were going to head back to the hospital to see Asher. Excited, he turned around, waving to Sarah as he ran over to his mother's car. His mother followed after him.

Dean started walking back to the Impala. He smiled down at his daughter. "Did you get his number? Are you two dating now?"

Sarah quickly looked up at her father. "Ew, no! We're just friends, Dad."

He shrugged, "Could have fooled me with all that cheesy smiling you were doing."

She punched her father, playfully in the leg for that as he laughed.

"You know, Sarah," Sam spoke up.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"Because of you, that kid still has some innocence in him."

"Yeah, I know. Michael actually saw it but he believed he was dreaming so I told him he was," Sarah explained.

Dean bent over to hug her head to him, kissing the top of it. "That's my girl," he told her and both he and Sam got into the front seat of the Impala.

Sarah stole one last look as the SUV turned out of the parking lot before she got into the backseat and fell asleep on the spot even before Dean was out of the parking lot.


	35. Chapter 35

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 35

The Winchesters were sitting in a diner, researching anything that might be a hunt. Dean skimmed through the newspaper while Sam checked on his laptop. Sarah was busy chowing down on some French fries, soaked in ketchup.

Dean looked over at his daughter out of the corner of his eye. "Want some French fries with that ketchup?" he asked her before stealing one that was somehow not coated completely.

"Nah, I have enough," she smiled and reached for her drink to take a swig.

Dean tossed his newspaper down and announced he couldn't find anything.

"Well, I've been scanning Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota… Here. A woman in Iowa fell ten thousand feet from an airplane and survived."

Dean shrugged, "That sounds more _That's Incredible_ than, uh, _Twilight Zone_."

Sam agreed and continued typing.

"Hey," Dean suddenly said, "we could just keep headin' east. New York. Upstate. You could stop by and see Sarah again. Eh?" he nodded, smirking. "She's a cool chick, man. Smokin'." Dean whistled. "You two seem pretty friendly. What do you say?"

Sam looked up from his laptop. "For the last time, Dean. I'm not dating someone with the same name as my niece." Ever since their last hunt and meeting a young woman also by the name of Sarah, Dean had been trying to hook his brother up, trying to get him out on a date. Or at least laid. Sam thought she was pretty and all, and a nice girl but was mostly afraid of someone getting close and getting hurt in the process. He did not want what happened to Jessica, to happen all over again. Sam didn't want to experience that pain again. Plus, it felt awkward dating someone with the name as his niece.

Dean looked over at his daughter. "Why must you have the name Sarah?" he asked her.

Sarah shrugged, "I don't know. That's what Mom named me."

"Just teasin' ya, kiddo," he said and turned back to Sam. "What else you got?"

"Ah, Manning, Colorado," said Sam, looking at the screen. "Local man by the name of Daniel Elkins was found mauled in his home."

Dean was thinking about the name and how it sounded familiar to him. "Elkins? I know that name."

"Doesn't ring a bell. Sounds like the police don't know what to think. At first, they said it was a bear attack."

"How does a bear get inside a house?" asked Sarah.

"I don't know, peanut," Sam said. "Now they say they found signs of robbery."

Dean was now flipping through John's journal, "Mm-hm." He said not looking up.

"Dad, are you even listening to Uncle Sam?" Sarah asked of her father.

"Yes, Sarah," he told her in an annoyed tone. Dean then stopped on a contacts page and showed it to Sam. "There. Check that out."

Sam took the journal from him and looked at it. "You think it's the same Elkins?"

"It's a Colorado area code," he shrugged.

"So something killed Grandpa's friend?" asked Sarah.

"May as well check it out," Sam suggested and started packing up.

"Finished eating, baby girl?" Dean asked his daughter as he grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair.

Sarah grabbed one more helping of French fries and placed them in her mouth. "Yeah, I'm done," she replied with ketchup on the corner of her mouth. Dean told her to go wash her hands and mouth in the restroom and to use the bathroom, too before they hit the road.

Once in Colorado, they headed for Daniel Elkins' house. Sam picked the lock this time and opened the door as Dean and Sarah shined their flashlights inside. He quickly put his lockpick away and took out his own flashlight, shining it inside, too.

While Sam found salt on the floor, Dean found a journal that looked similar to his own father's as he looked through it. Venturing more into the house, the house seemed like there was one heck of a fight and there were more than one that had attacked Elkins.

Sarah crouched to the floor. She looked through the pile of stuff on the floor, finding an empty gun case. "Dad, what's this?" she stood up and held the box out to her father, who shined his flashlight on it.

"Looks like an old gun case," he said.

Sarah looked at it. "Doesn't look like it would hold a gun."

"It's probably one you can take apart in pieces," he explained.

"Oh yeah," she said, dropping it on the floor. "I didn't think of that."

Dean took a few steps forward and kneeled down to get a look at something on the floor.

"Got something?" asked Sam.

"I don't know," he said, staring at it, "Some scratches on the floor."

"Death throes, maybe?"

Dean looked around the room, "Yeah, maybe. Sarah, hand me one of those pencils, would ya?"

Sarah looked behind her, at a container of pencils that were sitting on the desk. She reached up and grabbed one, turning around to pass it to her father. "Here you go, Dad."

Dean took it and asked for a piece of paper, too. Sarah tore one from a stack of papers and passed it to him, as well. He then laid it over the scratches, pounding it down before scribbling on it with the pencil. Dean picked the paper up when he was done and looked at it. "It may be a message," he said and handed it up to Sam. "Look familiar?"

Sam took it and looked at it. "Three letters, six digits. The location and combination of a post office box. It's a mail drop."

"It's just the way Dad does it."

After scourging some more and not finding anything, the Winchesters headed outside to the Impala. Just as Sarah was about to open her door, she thought she saw a shadowy movement off in the distance. She thought about telling her father but saw that it was gone. They could always come back anyway. So, Sarah climbed into the backseat and shut her door, moving over to sit in the middle to finish her war game with her green army men against several Pokémon figurines.

At the post office, Dean opened up the post box while Sam and Sarah stood on either side. When he got it open, Dean pulled out an envelope that said J.W. and an address on the front.

Dean stared at it as they sat in the Impala.

"J.W." Sam read off. "You think? John Winchester?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Should we open it?"

Sarah was leaning over the back of the front seat. "Opening someone else's mail without permission is a Federal offense, Dad."

"And how do you know something like that?"

"Heard it on TV somewhere," she shrugged before there was a knock on Dean's window. All three jumped when they heard it, looking in that direction.

Looking in the window, smiling was John looking a lot better than when they last parted ways.

Dean asked, "Dad?" as John opened the car door to the backseat, getting in.

Right when John sat down, he got an unpleasant surprise. He had sat down right on Sarah's toys. "What the hell?" John asked, quickly moving to the edge of the seat to look back at what was there.

Sarah moved back to the seat and pushed all her toys over so her grandfather could sit, comfortably. "Sorry, Grandpa. No one usually sits back here with me."

"It's okay, sweetheart," he assured her before getting pounced on, in a hug.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Sam asked. "Are you all right?"

John kissed his granddaughter's head. "Yeah, I'm okay," he replied. "I read the news about Daniel. I got here as soon as I could."

Sarah sat back on her left leg.

He looked between the three of them, "I saw you three up at his place."

Sarah remembered when she thought she saw someone as they were leaving. "That was you I saw," she told John. "I thought it was maybe what killed Mister Elkins, but it was you, wasn't it?"

John looked over at her. "Yeah, Sarah. It was me."

Dean wasn't pleased, though. "Why didn't you say anything? What if it had been what killed him?"

"I wasn't sure if I really saw something," she shrugged.

"It doesn't matter, Sarah. Even if it's just a hunch, you let us know. Do you understand?" he told her, sternly.

Sarah nodded, "Yes, sir." And sat back in the backseat, sad that she had disappointed her father.

"So, why didn't you come in, Dad?" Sam asked his father as Sarah picked up two of her toys and started fighting them.

"You know why," John replied. "Because I had to make sure you weren't followed. By anyone…or anything. Nice job covering your tracks, by the way."

"Yeah, well, we learned from the best," Dean told him.

"Wait, so you came all the way out here for this Elkins guy?" Sam continued to interrogate his father.

John nodded, "Yeah. He was… He was a good man. He taught me a hell of a lot about hunting."

"You never mentioned him to us."

"We had a… We had kind of a falling out," he explained. "I hadn't seen him in years."

Sarah looked up from her toys. "Sorry about your friend, Grandpa," she told him, sincerely.

"Thanks, sweetheart," he smiled back at his granddaughter. She looked so much like Dean did as a kid, to him. He turned back to Dean to ask for the letter. Dean passed it back to his father who opened it and read it in his head.

"What does it say?" Sarah asked, curious.

"That son of a bitch," he said at the letter.

Dean asked, "What is it?"

"He had it the whole time."

"Had what the whole time?" asked Sarah.

"When you searched the place, did you…? Did you see a gun?" John asked all three of them. "An antique. A colt revolver."

"I found an old box. Dad said it was a gun case, but it was empty."

"They have it," he realized.

"Whatever killed Elkins?" asked Dean.

John started to get out of the car. "We've got to pick up the trail." He then slammed the door shut behind him.

"Wait," Sam stopped him. John looked inside Dean's now open window. "You want us to come with you?"

"If Elkins is telling the truth, we've gotta find this gun," he explained.

"What's so special about a gun?" Sarah asked, curious again.

"It's important," he told her.

"Dad, we don't even know what these things are," said Sam.

"They were what Daniel Elkins killed best. Vampires."

Dean was surprised to hear that. "Vampires? I thought there was no such thing?"

"One of my books says vampires were extinct," Sarah added.

"I thought they were, too," John replied. "I thought Elkins and… And others had wiped'em out. I was wrong." Sam, Dean, and Sarah, who was leaning over the front seat again, exchanged looks between them as he continued. "Besides, Sarah, most vampire lore is crap. A cross won't repel them."

"And sunlight won't kill them," she finished.

John was impressed. "Right. And neither would a stake to the heart."

"Vampires liking blood is true, though. They need fresh human blood to survive," Sarah added, impressing her grandfather even more.

"Right again, Sarah," he nodded. "They were once…"

"People, so you won't know unless you see their teeth, which aren't just four fangs like in the movies. Vampires have another set of teeth that they can retract when they're not needed."

Sam was also impressed by the information his niece knew. "How do you know all this stuff, peanut?" he asked of her.

"It's all in one of my books, _The Monster Guide_," she told her uncle.

"I told you Sarah already knew about what we hunt when I picked her up from her grandparents," Dean reminded his brother.

"Let's find somewhere for the night and Sarah," John looked over at her again.

"Yeah, Grandpa?"

"I want to take a look at this book of yours," he told her.

They went in search for somewhere to crash, finding a cabin they rented. Inside, Sarah showed her grandfather her book.

John skimmed through it, amazed. "Where did you find this, Sarah?" he asked of her.

"Gram likes searching for yard sales every Saturday, and sometimes I go with her. An old woman was selling it."

"Why?" asked Dean from one of the beds. "What's wrong?"

"This is an underground book written by a hunter, Maureen Seinfeld. You can't just buy this anywhere," John told his oldest son, looking up from the book. "Most hunters dream about finding this book. In fact, the gun I'm after is mentioned in here as well."

"You're not gonna take it, are you, Grandpa?" Sarah asked him.

John closed the book and passed it back to her. "No, I wouldn't do that. You hold onto it, tight."

Sarah took the book, whose spine was falling apart and covered in scratches all over. "I didn't know it was special," she said as she looked it over.

"You should see the other books she has," Sam pointed out to John. "Nothing you would expect a kid to have in their collection."

John shook his head upon hearing at how much deeply involved his granddaughter was in hunting already.

"Come on, Sarah," Dean said. "You need at least a little sleep before we start this next hunt."

Sarah set her book down on the table John was sitting beside and went over to climb into bed with her father. John watched as she got underneath the covers and snuggled up against her father's chest and fell right to sleep. Dean wrapped his right arm around her, protectively and drifted off to sleep, as well.


	36. Chapter 36

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 36

Sarah was still trying to wake up as she, Dean, and Sam waited by the Impala as John talked to the police about a body found in a street along with an abandoned car. John knew it was the vampires and dragged the rest of them out, early in the morning. Sarah rubbed at her eye, "Why couldn't we all go over there?"

Sam scoffed, "I'm with you, peanut."

Dean looked over from the cops and his father, over at his brother. "Oh, don't tell me it's already starting," he asked Sam.

"What?" Sarah asked. "I was just asking. The three of us does this together."

Dean rubbed his hand along the top of her head. "Not you, Sarah. I mean Sam," he assured her as John was walking towards them. He turned around to face his father. "What do you got?"

"It was them all right. Looks like they're heading west," John explained, his hands in his jacket pockets. "We'll double back to get around that detour."

"How can you be so sure?" Sam questioned him.

"Sam," Dean told his brother in an annoyed tone.

"I just wanna know we're going in the right direction," Sam explained.

"We are," said John.

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked.

"Sarah, not you, too," Dean said, with the same annoyed tone.

She shrugged, "I'm just asking, Dad." She looked back at her grandfather. "I mean, I don't know what you talked about over there, Grandpa, but usually we do a lot more research before we even get close to a lead. What are you going off of?"

John couldn't help but think that they may have two Sams now. He removed his right hand from his pocket and showed the three of them a vampire tooth. "I found this."

Dean was the one to take it from him and examine it. "So, this is one of them vampire teeth?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Looks more like a fang."

John looked between his youngest son and granddaughter, "Anymore questions?"

Sarah was about to open her mouth to continue when Dean gently kicked her in the leg, cautioning her not to answer. Instead, she replied, "No, sir."

Sam did not respond at all, he just stared at the tooth.

John started walking towards his truck. "All right. Let's get out of here, we're losing daylight."

"Daylight?" Sarah questioned. "The sun is barely even up yet."

John ignored it. "Hey Dean, why don't you touch up your car before you get rust? I wouldn't have given you the damn thing if I thought you would ruin it."

Dean kept quiet, not responding as he walked over to the passenger side of the Impala. Sam looked at him as if to ask, "Are you gonna say anything?" and Dean just shrugged.

Sarah didn't like how her father was talked to, of course, even by his own father, and quickly shot, "My dad takes good care of his car, you jerk!"

John turned around, his hands still in his jacket pockets. He looked over at his granddaughter, "excuse me, young lady?"

"You heard me," she glared at him.

Embarrassed, Dean pulled Sarah back, against him, covering her mouth. "Sorry 'bout that, Dad," he apologized.

John looked at his first-born, "Why don't you control your kid, Dean?" and walked away.

Sarah was struggling against her father's strong grip. Dean removed his hand from her mouth when John was inside his truck, and turned her around to face him. "Sarah, you have got to stop this. I mean it, it's okay," he told her for the umpteenth time.

"I'm sorry, Dad but it's not true. You do take very good care of your car," Sarah said.

Dean sighed. John honked his horn in impatience so Dean stood up and told Sarah to get in the car as he opened his door. He swore it was like taking chocolate away from a fat kid in trying to convince his daughter in not lashing out at who ever was talking to him the wrong way. And now even worse, he looked like a bad parent in front of his own father.

As Sam followed John, Dean read up on vampires from Sarah's book. "Well, I wonder if that's what happened to that 911 couple," he said, afterwards.

Sam stared ahead as he drove with one hand on the steering wheel. "That's probably what Dad's thinking," he said. "Course it'd be nice if he just told us what he thinks."

Dean looked over at his brother, "So it is starting."

Sam looked back at him for a brief moment then returned his attention to the road, "What?"

"Sam, we've been looking for Dad all year," Dean told him. "Now we're with him a couple hours and there's static already?"

He scoffed, "No." Sam took a deep breath. "Look, I'm happy he's okay, all right? I'm happy we're all workin' together."

"Good," Dean mumbled returning to the book.

Sam looked at him and then looked away, shaking his head. "It's just the way he treats us like children."

Dean moaned, "Oh, God."

"He…He barks orders at us, Dean," he continued. "He expects us to follow'em without question. He keeps us on some crap need-to-know deal."

"He does what he does for a reason," said Dean.

Sarah jumped up, onto the back of the front seat. "I've only known Grandpa for a few hours but I have to say, he isn't like you, Dad." She shrugged, "We always consider things before we jump into what we're dealing with. The only research we've done is Grandpa talking to the cops and he barely shared anything with us except a stupid tooth."

"That's enough, Sarah," he warned her, looking at the book still.

"We're a team, we should all be on the same level," she argued with him.

"Sarah's right, Dean," Sam agreed with his niece.

"That's just the way the old man runs things," Dean shrugged.

"Yeah, well, it's a pretty crappy way," Sarah mumbled to Sam.

Dean looked back at his daughter, "What was that?"

"Nothing," she replied, quickly.

"You're coming close to me having Sam pull over and taking you across my knee," he warned.

Sam jumped in to defend his niece. "She's just speaking her mind, Dean."

"Yeah, about her own grandfather when she speaks very highly of her other one," Dean pointed out. He turned in his seat to look at his daughter. "You tell me all year you can't wait to meet the man and just like your uncle, you're talking like this about him?"

"I didn't know he was like this and you didn't say nothing to me either. You made him out like he's this perfect somebody who you learned everything from." Sarah didn't normally talk back to her father like the way she was but something just happened. It was mostly disappointment from seeing how her grandfather really was. All this time, she just thought he was just like her father. "Guess I was wrong."

Dean turned in his seat the moment he heard his daughter say she was wrong on her opinion of her grandfather. It hurt to hear and Dean refused to continue with this discussion.

Sarah realized what she had done though, and settled down. "I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't mean…"

"Just drop it, Sarah. We're in the middle of a hunt and need to focus on that," he interrupted her.

For the whole day, they continued to follow John. The Impala was in complete silence except for the engine, and Sarah's PSP and for a brief moment, her making sounds as she battled her toys against each other. Even though she didn't show it, Sarah couldn't understand why they just kept on driving around when it clearly wasn't getting them anywhere. The only time she could express her thoughts was when they stopped for gas and she and Sam went inside to grab something to eat.

"Is Dad always like this when you're around Grandpa?" she asked, grabbing a bag of Cheetos from the rack.

"He's just like you, peanut," Sam shrugged. "You can't see it? Your dad's just trying to follow our dad's orders like we were taught to do."

"Yeah, but Grandpa won't tell us anything. We're jumping into the lion's den." Sarah was following her uncle down an aisle back to the cooler section. "I need to know stuff or it drives me crazy."

"And I feel ya, peanut," he told her. "I really do and trust me I will get it out of your grandfather. Okay?"

"Okay, Uncle Sam," she replied. "Just do me a favor and do it without a fight."

"That I can't promise."

Later, that evening, Dean was talking to John on his phone. When he finally hung up, he told Sam to pull off at the next exit. Sam had to ask, why. "'Cause Dad thinks we've got the vampires' trail," Dean told him.

Sarah looked up from her PSP. "From what lead? We've been driving around all day."

"I don't know, Sarah. He didn't say, so can you not start this up again?"

At that, Sam revved the engine and sped up, switching lanes and eventually passing his father's truck, skidding in the middle of the road to block him. He got out of the truck, slamming his door shut.

"Oh, crap," Dean moaned. "Here we go. Sam!"

John was walking towards him as Sam stepped towards his father. "What the hell was that?"

Dean tried to tell his daughter to stay in the car, but she was already halfway out, tossing her PSP onto the seat. He hurried around to their side.

"We need to talk," Sam told his father off.

"About what?" John demanded.

"About everything."

"Easy, Uncle Sam," Sarah tried to calm her uncle down. To her grandfather in the calmest tone she could use, "For starters, where are you getting your leads when all we've done is drive around."

"That's enough, Sarah Lynn," Dean warned her.

"And what's the big deal about this gun?" Sam added not even trying to mass his anger.

"Come on, you two," Dean told his brother as well. "We can Q and A after we kill all the vampires."

John was mostly staring at Sam since he was more his eye level. "He's right. We don't have time for this."

"Last time we saw you, you said it was too dangerous to be together," Sam pointed out. "Now, out of the blue, you need our help."

"Help? What help? 'Cause so far, all we've done is nothing!" Sarah shot out, losing control of her temper as more of her uncle was starting to come out of her.

Sam continued, "Obviously something big is going down, and we wanna know what."

John just stood there, not budging an inch. "Get back in the car," he told Sam.

"No," he replied, shaking his head.

He moved closer to his youngest son and nodded up at him. "I said get back in the damn car."

Sam did not make an inch to flinch, he just simply said, "And I said, no."

"Okay," Dean stepped in, "You made your point, tough guy. Look, we're all tired. We can talk about this later. Sammy, I mean it." He shoved both his brother and daughter back towards the Impala. "Come on, both of you."

"This is why I left in the first place," Sam muttered to them.

"What'd you say?" John asked, still standing in the same spot.

Sam spun back around, "You heard me."

"Yeah," he shot back. "You left. Your brother and me, we needed you. You walked away, Sam. You walked away!"

Dean was busy holding Sarah back as John got back up in her uncle's face. "Stop it, both of you," he told both his father and brother, struggling with his daughter.

"You're the one who said, 'don't come back,' Dad. You're the one who closed that door, not me." Sam started getting louder as he spat out, "You were just pissed off you couldn't control me anymore!"

While holding Sarah back with one arm, Dean got in between them, breaking up the argument. "I said, stop it!" he exclaimed. "Stop it, all of you. That's enough!"

Sam and John stepped back but they still continued to stare daggers at one another. Sarah stopped, struggling and just stared at her grandfather as if he was about to attack one of them.

Dean looked at his father, "That means, you too" before he realized Sarah was doing it, too. Sam was already getting back into the Impala. "And you, too, Sarah Lynn. Get back in the car, now."

Sarah did not say a word as she thrust open her door and got into the backseat, slamming her door shut before returning to her game, which was a shooting game and gladly took all her anger out on the little, pixelated bad guys.

John walked back to his truck as Dean looked between all three of his family members and shrugged his arms up. "Terrific."


	37. Chapter 37

**Family is Where the Heart is **

Chapter 37

Later that night, Sarah woke up to use the bathroom. She very carefully slipped from her father's arm, being careful not to wake him. This was never an easy task for her either since Dean always kept a firm grip even in his sleep. Normally, Sarah goes before bed so she doesn't have to worry about getting up in the middle of the night, but now and then, it happens.

After peeling away his arm, Sarah got up from the bed and wandered over to the bathroom, careful not to wake anyone up. Unfortunately, out of all the floorboards she had to step on one of the loose ones that creaked.

John stirred, over on the couch and lifted his head to peer through the darkness. His hand went straight for underneath his pillow, tightening around his gun he had hidden. The moonlight shining through the window showed John it was only his granddaughter. "What are you doing out of bed for?" he asked of her.

"I have to use the bathroom. Do I need to ask for your permission to use it now?" Sarah asked, sarcastically.

"Don't be a smartass, young lady. I thought you went before you went to bed?"

"I'm a kid," she said. "We tend to have to go a lot. Now, can I go before I pee myself?"

"Hurry up and get back in bed. We have another early start tomorrow," he told her.

Sarah rolled her eyes as she hurried to the bathroom. Once she was done, Sarah came back out after washing her hands and headed back to the bed she was sharing with her father.

John watched from his pillow. When she was standing by the bed about to climb back into it, he sighed and called her over to him.

Sarah sat back onto her legs and looked over at her grandfather. "I thought you wanted me back in bed?" she told him, sarcastically.

"Seriously, kid," John told her, sternly as he kept his voice down as much as he could but she could still hear him. "Lose the attitude."

"I was just saying what you told me to do," she shrugged with her arms folded. "Isn't that what you wanted?"

John sighed, "Sarah, just come here, please. I want to talk to you."

Sarah stood up again and walked over to where her grandfather was sitting up, putting his feet on the floor. He leaned on his forearms towards her.

"Where is this bitterness and attitude towards me coming from, Sarah?" he asked, curiously. "On the phone and back in Chicago, you never came off like this. Why now?"

Sarah crossed her arms, tightly across her chest. "Because you came in here, expecting help and when we agreed, you don't tell us anything. I have to know what's going on. We all do," she explained to him.

John looked down at his lap. He picked his head back up to say, "So you got your uncle's stubbornness, huh? Why can't you and him just go along with this?"

"Because you can't weasel your way as leader and just expect everyone to follow you. We're a team. We need to know, Grandpa." Sarah stared at him, not backing down.

"Okay," he finally gave in. "Some time tomorrow, I will tell you three everything."

Sarah looked at her grandfather, sideways. "You promise?"

"I promise."

Sarah still did not believe her grandfather. "I will believe it when I see it, but here," she reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a folded picture. The same one she and Sam had found in the motel room, John had abandoned while in Jericho. Sarah held it out to him.

John looked at it. "What's this?" he asked before taking it from her.

"We found it back in Jericho and I figured you would probably be sad that you left it behind so I kept it safe until we found you," she explained.

John opened it up and saw it was the picture of him and his boys, together. "You saved this for me?" he asked, amazed at the fact his granddaughter kept it just for him.

Only, Sarah just shrugged, "I'd be pretty sad if I lost something like that." She looked back over her right shoulder when she heard movement. Dean was feeling around for her in his sleep. Sarah turned back around, "I should probably get back to bed before Dad wakes up and starts panicking." She then turned around and walked back over to the bed and climbed in, beside her father, guiding his arm. "It's okay, Dad," she assured him, quietly, "I'm right here. Don't worry, everything's gonna be fine, I promise." Sarah then moved in closer as Dean cuddled his daughter to him in his sleep.

John watched and listened, the whole time. He switched back and forth between the picture, and Dean and Sarah, and remembered those late nights when he came home from a hunt, tired and beat-up, how Dean would come up to him and tell him the exact same thing. History seemed to be repeating itself and it hurt John to realize that for himself. This was never the life he intended for his boys and he defiantly did not want it to carry over to the next generation.

Standing up, John grabbed his jacket and headed outside to get some fresh air.

"Son of a bitch," said Dean as they watched a vampire drive up to an old, abandoned barn and step out, going inside. He, Sam, John, and Sarah were hiding back in some bare thickets. "So, they're not really afraid of the sun?"

"Uh, direct sunlight hurts like a nasty sunburn," said John. "The only way to kill'em is by beheading."

Sarah perked up upon hearing that, "Yes, I finally get to chop a head off," she said, excited but stopped suddenly when all three were staring at her. Sarah cleared her throat, looking away. "I, um, have a video game where you fight monsters, and uh, you can do that."

"You scare me, sometimes, baby girl," Dean told her.

"Yeah, I'm starting to see I might be a little messed up in the head."

John looked over at his first-born. "What toys are you buying for your daughter, Dean?"

"I didn't buy it, her cousin bought it for her," he replied, defensively.

"I never said he bought it for me," Sarah pointed out. "I said he gave it to me. It was his PSP to begin with. He just put the music on there for me. Trust me, my Nintendo games are more innocent."

Sam spoke up, looking between his family, "Are we really having this discussion, right now? We're kind of in the middle of something important here."

"Sam's right," John agreed. "We need to work our way in there."

So, the Winchesters headed back to where they parked the Impala and John's truck. Dean opened the trunk while John opened the back of his truck.

"Sorry, Dad," Dean told his father, "With Sarah with us, we don't have an extra machete."

John pulled out a machete from his own arsenal. "I think I'm okay. Thanks."

Dean nodded and kneeled down to Sarah's level and lifted her sweatshirt up, a little, telling her to hold it before he wrapped the machete case around her waist and tied it for her. "Look at me, Sarah," he told her, afterwards and looked her square in the eye. "This is your first time using this weapon and just like everything else use it, wisely. Do not mess around with it, do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir," Sarah replied. She had heard this speech over and over and was quite frankly, sick of it but never complained about it. Not out loud anyway. She knew her father was just doing his job of being a father.

"Good girl," he told her, before standing up and putting his on.

John finally looked over at Sarah and the boys. He knew it was time to shed some light, though was pretty sure Sarah might know it already, she just didn't realize it. "You really want to know about this Colt?" he asked them.

Sam looked over at his father, "Yes, sir," he said.

"It's just a story," he explained. "A legend, really. Well, I thought it was. I never would have believed it until I read Daniel's letter. Back in 1835, when Halley's Comet was overhead, the same night those men died at the Alamo…"

"What's the Alamo?" Sarah interrupted but her father and uncle both hushed her so John could continue. She was smart but Sarah couldn't just pull out random facts since she had never gotten that far in history class yet.

John continued, "They say Samuel Colt made a gun. A special gun. He made it for a hunter. A man like us, only on horseback. The story goes, he made thirteen bullets. This hunter used the gun a half-dozen times before he disappeared, the gun along with him. Until somehow, Daniel got his hands on it. They say… They say this gun can kill anything."

"Kill anything, like supernatural anything?" asked Dean.

"Like the demon," said Sam.

"Yeah, the demon," said John.

Sarah was remembering when she had read the story, herself. It had been over a year and somehow it had got pushed back in her mind until now. "Yeah, I remember that story now. It's in my book."

"I was surprised," John told her, "By how smart you are, I figured you would have figured it out on your own."

She shrugged, "The past year has been really crazy."

John smiled at his granddaughter before looking back at his boys. "Ever since I picked up its trail, I've been looking for a way to destroy that thing. Find the gun," he nodded once. "We may have it."

Sarah felt her fists clench at her side and her adrenaline rise up inside of her. "Well then, why are we just standing around for? Let's get in there and kick some vampire ass?"

John stifled himself from breaking out into laughter. "That's what I like to hear, Sarah," he smiled at her.

The family crept over to the barn and looked for a way in. On one side was a tall stack of hay bales with a window at the top. The four of them climbed up, with John leading the way. When John reached the top, he pushed the wooden doors open and climbed in, not stopping to look back at the rest.

Sam climbed in next, looking around before spotting his niece who was climbing in next, followed by Dean. Dean closed the doors, darkening the barn. The three of them leaped from another set of hay bales. All of the vampires were sleeping in hammocks throughout the dark space as Sam, Dean, and Sarah quietly made their way around.

Sarah looked around as she walked behind her uncle and in front of her father, her hand clenched, tightly around the hilt of her machete in case one of the vampires suddenly attacked. Her heart was beating faster with each passing moment before she heard a noise and almost jumped out of her skin. Turns out, Dean had bumped into one of the hammocks, trying to go under it.

Sarah looked around, scanning the room again until Sam got hers and Dean's attention. The two of them hurried over to where Sam was squatting down, next to a young woman tied to a beam, asleep.

Just as Sam was about to untie her, there was another noise this time and Dean noticed a cage with a bunch of people inside and went to investigate. Everyone was tied up and had tape over their mouths. While Dean tied to break the cage open and Sam cut the woman loose, Sarah kept watch, her eyes never leaving any of the vampires. She tightened her grip on the machete hilt when Dean made a louder noise than he had anticipated and all three stayed on high alert for a moment before Sam and Dean continued.

The woman, Sam was cutting loose began to stir. Sam tried, very quietly to keep her quiet and to assure her that they were there to rescue her and the others. However, it seems she had already been turned because she screamed out, alerting the vampires. Sam moved back in a standing position, drawing his machete.

Sarah had drawn hers the minute she heard the woman scream, ready to fight any vampires that came at them. She was disappointed when she heard her grandfather tell the three of them to run. Their cover was blown though and knew they had to come up with a new strategy. So Sarah hurried after her father and uncle, out of the barn. While running away from there and into the ticket, she tripped over a tree branch that was on the ground. Neither Dean or Sam noticed and kept on running. Just as she was about to pick herself up, she felt two hands grab her as they ran. Sarah looked up to see it was her grandfather.

Soon, they reached the vehicles where Sam and Dean were waiting, who was about to take off towards the Impala. John set Sarah down on her feet. "They won't follow," he told them. "They'll wait for tonight."

Sarah slid the machete back into the case. "They have our scent for good. So, there's no hiding from them now," she told the men.

"So, what do we do now?" Dean demanded.

"You gotta find the nearest funeral home, that's what," John told him.

Sarah looked up at her grandfather as Sam and Dean exchanged confused looks. "You mean to plan our funerals? Yeah, real comforting to hear, Grandpa," she said, sarcastic.

"No, we're gonna need Dead Man's blood if we want to get that Colt." John then laid out their next plan before Dean volunteered to get the blood. Sarah wanted to go with him, but Dean told her to stay with her uncle and grandfather. The three of them rode back to the cabin, with Sam holding his niece on his lap.

Sam paced the floor of the cabin while Sarah lied on his bed, on her stomach as she played her PSP. "It shouldn't be taking this long," Sam complained. His hands were dug into his jeans pockets. "I should go help."

"Uncle Sam, this is Dad we're talking about. He knows what he's doing," Sarah reminded him like it was a well-known fact.

"Sarah's right, Dean's got it," John said, sitting at a desk.

Sam stopped in his tracks to look back at his father. He then looked every other direction besides John and started pacing again.

John tried to focus on his work but couldn't help watching his youngest son. "Sammy," he finally said, twirling his pen in his hands.

Sam stopped to look at him again. "Yeah?"

John sighed before looking downward, "I don't think I ever told you this, but…the day you were born, you know what I did?"

"Pass out cigars?" Sarah asked, still playing her game.

"Sarah," Sam scolded her, sternly.

Sarah shrugged up at her uncle, innocently, "What? I heard that's what they do when their kid is born."

Sam let out a breath of annoyed air as he ran his hand down his face and looked over at his father when he heard him snicker. "Glad you find this funny, Dad," he said, bitterly.

John smiled, "No, Sarah, that's what I did when your dad was born."

"Really?" asked Sarah, curious.

He snickered some more. John couldn't remember the last time he laughed this much. "No, not really," he said, truthfully. "Just trying to lighten the mood. Seriously though, the day you were born, Sam, I put a hundred bucks into a savings account for you. I did the same thing for your brother." He paused for a moment. "It was a college fund. And every month, I'd put in another hundred dollars, until…" John couldn't finish that sentence but Sam knew what he meant.

"Papa says parents shouldn't do that," Sarah spoke when her uncle didn't say a word.

"Why not, sweetheart?"

She shrugged, "Papa had to work his tail off to get into school, that it doesn't help the kid when everything is just handed to them. That's why he didn't help my mom when we were struggling. He struggled when he was young and now he's retired in a big house where only old people can live. All you can do is pray for them, he says."

John was trying to wrap his head around whom Sarah was referring to. Papa could be father or grandfather. He knew Dean wouldn't say something like that. Plus, he heard Sarah call him, Dad or Daddy. John finally understood that she probably meant her other grandfather and asked to make sure, getting a nod. "I never took him for that kind of person when I talked to him over the phone," he said.

"Papa can be a strict man, sometimes. I've been over his knee a lot."

"You hardly give us trouble, except being a smartass," Sam shrugged at his niece.

"Because I didn't have hunting to keep me out of trouble. I was always bored and with me, boredom usually leads to trouble. At Papa's house, I only got one hour a week on this thing." Sarah held her PSP up, closer to her uncle. "If he knew how, Papa would have deleted all my music off of here, too. They all hated classic rock."

"So," John got his granddaughter's attention, smirking now, too. "Am I your favorite grandpa then?"

"Well…" Sarah pretended to think on it. "Papa still was a very loving man and all but…" She smiled at him. "He wasn't as cool as you."

"I'm cool, huh?" he smiled. "Why? Last night, you looked like you were gonna tear me a new one."

Sarah shrugged. "I don't know," she answered, truthfully. "Yeah, I was mad but I still love you. I get mad at Dad and Uncle Sammy, too especially when they fight. Doesn't mean I don't love them any less."

Something happened and John's heart got all mushy. "Come here, kiddo," he told Sarah. Sarah put her PSP down and crawled off the bed, going over to her grandfather, who scooped her up in his arms and held her on his lap. John kissed her forehead. "I love you, too, Sarah. Don't ever forget that."

"Even when I tell you off?" she asked, hugging him with one arm.

John smiled at her, "Kid, I have been dealing with that longer than you were born. Remember, you're your uncle's niece."

Sarah giggled at that, making Sam snicker, too and walk over to sit on the other side of the desk.

John kissed her forehead one last time before returning back to his son. "Getting back on topic where we were interrupted," he smiled down at his granddaughter when he said the last part then returned to Sam, again. "This was never the life I wanted for you."

Sam got serious, too. "Then why did you get so mad when I left?"

"You got to understand something and I'm sure Dean has learned this with Sarah." John sighed as he rubbed Sarah's left shoulder, affectionately. "After your mother passed, all I saw was evil…Everywhere. And all I cared about was…Was keeping you boys alive."

Sarah looked up at her grandfather and noticed the sad look on his face, so she laid her head against his chest and told him that it was okay, comforting him.

John hugged her head to him before continuing, "I wanted you prepared. Ready. See, somewhere along the line, I, uh…I stopped being your father, and I…I became your…your drill sergeant. So when you said that you wanted to go away to school, all I could think about, my only thought was, that you were gonna be alone. Vulnerable. Sammy, it just…It never occurred to me what you wanted. I just couldn't accept the fact that you and me, we're just different."

Sam chuckled.

"What?" he asked, smiling as he continued to rub Sarah's shoulder.

Sam looked up again, shaking his head. "We're not different," he whispered. "Not anymore," just above a whisper. "With what happened to Mom and Jess…" Sam shook his head again and laughed. "Uh, we probably have a lot more in common than just about anyone." Sam breathed in, heavily.

Sarah looked back and forth between her uncle and grandfather. "So, does that include me then, since everyone says I'm just like you, Uncle Sam?"

The men let out a laugh at the same time, confusing the little girl.

"Yeah, peanut," Sam finally answered, "that includes you."

"Aw, great," she said.

John snickered and tickled Sarah in the stomach until Sam interrupted, curious.

Hey, Dad," he said. "Whatever happened to that college fund?"

"I spent it on ammo," he said and all three bust out into laughter as Dean came through the door. Everyone got silence.

Dean shook his head, "Whoo. Man, some heavy security to protect a bunch of dead guys" as he walked towards them.

Sarah turned around to face the desk but didn't get up. "You get it?" John asked his oldest as he leaned towards her, on the desk.

Dean took a paper bag from his pocket and removed a black jar with strings tied on it, and handed it to John.

John held the jar in his left hand and sighed, looking at it. "You know what to do," he told them and set it on the desk.


	38. Chapter 38

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 38

Dean parked on the side of the road and lifted the hood of his car, pretending to have car trouble while John, Sam, and Sarah stayed back, hidden behind some trees, waiting for the vampires.

One of the vampires, the leader's girlfriend walked up, behind Dean, surprising him. "Car trouble?" she asked. Dean stood up and faced her. "Let me give you a lift. Take you back to my place."

Dean shrugged, "I'll pass. I usually draw the line at necrophilia."

"Ooh," the female vampire said and slapped Dean in the face. Sam had to quickly hold Sarah back when she saw her father get struck and raised onto his feet.

"Don't normally get this friendly till the second date, but…" Dean said as she held his jaw and chuckled.

"You know, we could have some fun," she told him, "I always like to make new friends," and kissed him, forcibly.

Dean chuckled afterwards, "Sorry. Don't really stay with a chick that long. Defiantly not eternally." Suddenly, two arrows were shot into the two vampires, releasing Dean, and John hurried over, carrying a crossbow, followed by Sam and Sarah.

"Damn it," said the female vampire. "Barely even stings."

"Give it time, sweetheart," John told her. "Arrows soaked in dead man's blood. It's like poison to you, isn't it?" She just glared at him then passed out. Dean caught her. "Load her up. I'll take care of this one." John turned around to face the other vampire, nodding at Sam, who had his machete raised.

"Can I do it, Grandpa?" Sarah asked, holding hers, too.

John sighed, not really wanting his granddaughter to be seeing this, much less actually decapitating something. But he gave in anyway, remembering how excited she was earlier. Sarah raised her machete and sliced into the vampire's neck, blood splattering everywhere, including on her. It took her a few minutes to get the head off, completely since it wasn't easy for her but finally she stopped and wiped away what splattered on her face. John was expected a child's reaction from her but Sarah remained mature and calm about it, surprising him.

Standing at the back of his truck, John gave Dean a sack of some stuff to burn. "Toss this on the fire. Saffron, skunk's cabbage, and trillium." They walked over where Sam was building a fire. "It'll block our scent and hers, until we're ready."

Dean coughed, "This stuff stinks."

"Well, that's the idea," he told him. "Dust your clothes with the ashes and you stand a fighting chance of not being detected."

Dean tossed the stuff onto the fire.

"You sure they'll come after her?" asked Sam.

"Yeah. Vampires mate for life. She means more to the leader than the gun," John explained as Sarah was standing guard, watching the vampire as she stirred. "But the blood-sickness is gonna wear off soon. So you don't have a lot of time."

Dean walked back over to them.

"Half hour atta do it," said Sam.

"And then, I want you out of the area as fast as you can," John finished.

Sarah perked up at her grandfather when she heard that.

"But…" Sam tried to argue.

"Whoa, Dad," said Dean. "You can't take care of 'em yourself."

"I'll have her," John assured them, "and the Colt."

"But after, we're gonna meet up, right?" Sam asked. "Use the gun together. Right?"

John looked away, not saying anything.

Sarah watched his movement, carefully. She widened her eyes when her uncle asked, "You're leaving again, aren't you?" Sam shook his head, "You still want to go after the demon alone? You know, I don't get you."

John looked at his youngest son.

"You can't treat us like this."

"Like what?" he asked.

"Like children," Sam told him.

"You are my children. I'm trying to keep you safe."

Dean spoke up, next. "Dad, all due respect, but, uh, that's a bunch of crap."

All three stared at Dean, surprised, including Sarah. She never expected her father to talk to his own father like that.

John asked of him, "Excuse me?"

"You know what the three of us have been huntin'," he replied. "Hell, you sent us on a few trips yourself. You can't be that worried about keeping us safe."

"It's not the same thing, Dean," John said.

"Then what is it? Why do you want us out of the big fight?"

"This demon, it's a bad son of a bitch. I can't make the same moves if I'm worried about keeping you alive."

"You mean, you can't be as reckless," said Dean.

John looked between his boys, "Look, I don't expect to make it out of this fight in one piece. Your mother's death, it almost killed me. I can't watch my children or my grandchild die, too. I won't."

"What about if you die?" Sarah asked.

Dean agreed, "What if you die and we've could've have done something about it?" John looked away. "You know, I've been thinking. I think Sammy's right about this one. I think we should do this together. We're stronger as a family, Dad. We just are. You know it."

Sarah stepped closer to the men. "I've seen the demon already. I've seen what he can do and we can use that to our advantage. I've known for three years now."

John ignored her. "We're running out time. You do your job and you get out of the area," he told Sam and Dean. "That's an order." John then walked away.

Sarah wasn't realizing it but she was squeezing the blade of her machete in her left hand. It dug into her skin as blood started leaking out. Hot tears were forming in her eyes. "You know what!" she yelled after her grandfather. "You're just a huge, selfish jerk!"

John kept walking away but dropped his head. It hurt to hear that from his granddaughter but he did not want her or his boys mixed in the fight when he knew there was a chance they could get hurt, or worse, killed. So, he hid the emotion.

Dean hurried after his father and grabbed his shoulder, making John face him. "Dad, do you want to know how many times I have almost lost my own kid, this past year?" he demanded of him. "Sarah has even been on the verge of death. But you know what, the kid always bounces back. You know why? Because she has her family there to protect her. You want to keep us out of a fight when there's a chance you could die and none of us will be there to back you up? I'm sorry but Sarah is right, you are a selfish jerk."

"We are wasting time with this, Dean. Do your job." With that, John continued walking away.

John thought about what both Dean and Sarah had said as he drove down the highway. Both their words rang in his head, over and over. Hearing that his granddaughter had been on the verge of death tore at him. John could not believe his son had brought her into this. Why didn't he put Sarah up for adoption like he had hinted Dean to do? He also thought back to Chicago and remembered seeing Sarah's eye and wondered what Dean did while it healed, hoping he didn't let her hunt with a bad eye. Keeping the three of them away from this demon was the best thing, though, especially Sam and Sarah. John already knew just how special they were and how much the demon wanted them. Of course, if the demon had already found Sarah, why hasn't it got her yet?

John's thoughts were interrupted when he noticed the vampires on his tail.

Meanwhile, Sam, Dean, and Sarah took care of the vampires that stayed behind at their nest and rescued the prisoners. Dean made sure Sarah stayed by his side the whole time for sure, considering her hand had an open wound now and once a vampire got a whiff of her blood, he did not even want to think about.

Sarah came close though. One of the vampires had her cornered while Dean had his own to deal with. The vampire sneered at her, "I like the smell of your blood, kid. It's different"

Not sure what he meant by that, Sarah gripped her machete in her hand as it lunged at her, pinning her to the wall. She could feel his breath on her neck as he inched closer. Sarah kicked up her legs, kicking the vampire in the jewels, making him let go. At that point, Dean came up from being and beheaded him while he was down.

"Did he get you, baby girl?" Dean asked of his daughter.

Sarah felt around on her neck, looking at her hand. "No," she shook her head.

Once the nest was cleared, Dean freed the prisoners, making sure they got out safely and met up with his brother and daughter outside.

"Dad, we're not really gonna leave Grandpa, are we?" Sarah asked her father.

He shook his head. "We never leave family behind."

"Even if it means breaking an order?"

"You bet, baby girl."

Sam, Dean, and Sarah hurried where John was dealing with the leader of the vampires and the rest. John was out cold when they got there. Dean shot at one of them with a crossbow as Sam and Sarah charged towards the rest.

Sam got knocked off his feet and the leader grabbed him up, around his neck. Sarah raised her machete, ready to attack.

"Don't," the leader threatened. "I'll break his neck."

Sam was grasping for air.

"Let him go," Sarah told the leader.

"Put the blade down," he told her as Dean ran up beside his daughter.

"Do want he says, Sarah," Dean told her.

"But…"

"Just do it," he said, sternly.

Sarah slowly lowered her machete on the ground while eyeing the leader who glared back, angrily. "You people," he told them, "Why can't you just leave us alone? We have as much right to live as you do."

"I don't think so." The leader turned while still holding Sam to see John pointing the Colt at him. John immediately shot him in the forehead, killing him instantly. Sam got loose and stepped back towards Dean and Sarah as the leader slowly fell onto the ground, limp.

The leader's girlfriend screamed his name out. She tried to go after John but the woman from before held her back and the two of them fled.

"Wait, we're letting them get away?" Sarah asked, watching as the vampires got into a car and drove away. "What if they form another pack and come after us?"

Dean shrugged, "Then we'll fight'em all over again."

Sarah left it at that and put her machete away as Dean looked over at his father. "We'll just go, Dad," he said, backing away. Sam and Sarah reluctantly followed.

Back at the cabin, the three of them were packing up their duffel bags. Sarah sat on the bed, shoving her clothes inside.

Dean looked up at her. "I know you're mad, baby girl," he told her as he continued packing. "We all are."

"Mad doesn't begin it," she said, bitterly, not towards her father but at the fact that her grandfather was leaving them yet again.

At that moment, John walked in. "So, boys. Sarah," he began, standing by the door with his hands in his pockets. Sam and Dean turned around to fully face him. Sarah stood up and walked over to stand in between her father and uncle.

"Yes, sir," said Sam as they moved closer.

"You ignored a direct order back there," he said.

"Yes, sir."

"Yeah, but we saved your ass," said Dean.

Sam looked at his brother out of the corner of his eye, nervously, while still watching his father.

Sarah crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Family never gets left behind," she added.

John nodded, agreeing with both of them. "You're right."

Dean looked at him, taken aback. "Me or her?"

"Both," he replied. "Look, it scares the hell out of me. You two were all I had, and now I have Sarah to think about, but I guess we are stronger as a family. So…we go after this damn thing. Together," he nodded.

Sarah smiled, proudly. "Yes, sir," the three of them said in union.


	39. Chapter 39

**Family is Where the heart is**

Chapter 39

Sarah sat on a dock, overlooking the ocean as the sun set on the horizon. It was dead quiet as she sat with her feet dangling over the edge as she took a deep breath, enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Suddenly, a voice startled her from behind. "See you met Grandpappy."

Sarah turned around to see the demon sitting on one of the dock pillars, his arms crossed, grinning. She glared at him, "What do you want?"

He looked away. "Oh, nothing much. Just wanted to check to see how things are going." The demon looked at her again. "Heard you found the Colt. What a prize, huh?"

Sarah stood up, slowly as she watched the demon. "Yeah, and we're gonna find you and kill you for what you've done."

"Oh, that's a laugh," he scoffed. "Your little family think you can kill little ol'me?"

"My dad is the best on his own," she told him. "With Grandpa and Uncle Sam, he'll be even better."

The demon stood up and walked to the other side of the dock, looking up at the sky, "Oh, you hold your precious daddy on such a high pedestal." He stopped and grinned at the little girl. "But honesty, he's nothing."

Sarah clenched her fists at her sides. "That's not true!" she roared at him.

"He tries so hard to protect you and your uncle Sammy when really the two of you don't need him at all. Look at what you alone can do, Sarah."

She stared at the demon, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Not one of my psychic children's powers have ever come out when they're still a kid," he explained. "It's always after their twenty-second birthday. But you, Sarah, yours came out, right after your fifth birthday and when I caught wind of that, you became my favorite. The one I finally learned is the one."

"The one, what?" she asked.

The demon sneered at her, "The one I need." He continued walking around the dock as Sarah watched his every movement. "Of course, I had to get you away from that other family of yours if I wanted my plans to succeed."

"So you gave Papa, Grandpa's number," said Sarah.

"Not just that. If I needed to get you away, I needed to make sure there was no reason for you to stay."

Now Sarah was confused even more now. "What are you talking about?"

The demon walked towards her and stopped. "Want to know a secret?" he asked her.

Sarah looked up at him, a little intrigued but worried at the same time.

"You know that tumor of Mommy's? It was only a small one that would have gone away after a surgery or two. But I kind of helped it grow. Watered the seed if you know what I mean."

She stepped back in horror and surprise, her eyes widened. "You…you killed my mom?"

"Oh, come on," he shrugged. "I did you a favor. Dear ol' mommy was gonna send you to an institution for children anyway. At least now, you're free with Daddy and Uncle Sammy."

Sarah's anger rose inside of her as her fists clenched again. "It was you who introduced me to monsters in the first place! You pushed my mom farther than we already were in the first place. You made everything even worse!"

"Now, no need to point fingers, little Sarah," the demon said, shaking a finger. "It was already there. I just, ignited the fuse, you might say."

Sarah fumed as her chest rapidly moved. "You evil…sick…son of a… jet rocket engine!"

"Is name-calling really necessary?" he asked, smiling.

Sarah then charged after him, but he disappeared. She almost lost her balance near the edge and quickly caught herself, turning around to see the demon standing where she was before.

"Remember, Sarah. I'm not really here. I just use your dreams to check up on you. You have yet to see me in action."

"Yeah?" she shot back. "When we really do find you, I will find enjoyment in watching you squirm underneath my dad, uncle, and grandpa."

He smiled at her, "We'll see" and snapped his fingers.

Sarah sat up in bed, quickly, in a motel room. It was daylight and the men were busy, discussing what John already knew about the demon when Dean looked back over his shoulder. He hurried over to his daughter and kneeled beside the bed.

"You all right, baby girl?" he asked, concerned.

Sarah looked at her father, uncle, and grandfather then back at her father. "I saw the demon again, Dad."

Sam, who was leaning against a dresser, stood up, stealing a glance at his father before returning to his niece.

"Mom wasn't supposed to die," she continued, close to tears.

Dean looked up at her, "What do you mean?"

"The demon said it was a small tumor that would have gone away after a couple surgeries but he made it worse so there would be a reason for Papa to find you." Sarah then went on to explain everything the demon had told her.

"But I thought you said he had plans for the both of us," Sam pointed out when Sarah was finished.

Sarah shrugged, "I'm just repeating what the demon told me."

"How can you be sure it wasn't just a dream, Sarah?" John asked, standing beside the bed. Dean had sat down on the bed during Sarah's story, beside her.

"The demon tells me things that I find out later are true. He told me about Uncle Sam right before I met Dad," she explained.

John looked down, thinking about all he just learned from his granddaughter.

Sarah looked up at her father. "Dad…" she started to say.

"What, baby girl?" he asked, his arm around her shoulders.

She wanted to tell him about how the demon had said that she didn't need him but also didn't want to tell him. It was just a demon, anyway. What did he know about little girls and their fathers? Sarah knew she needed him. She shook her head, "nothing" and hugged him. "I love you, Dad."

Dean hugged his daughter to him. "I love you, too, baby girl."

The Winchesters packed up and moved on.

Outside, once everything was in the trunks, Sarah asked John, "Hey Grandpa," standing in between the Impala and his truck. "Can I ride with you, this time?"

John was surprised to hear her ask that. In a good way, though. "If it's all right with your dad," he told her.

Sarah hurried over where Dean was walking back from the motel's main office. "Dad, can I ride with Grandpa? Please?" she begged, using her puppy-dog face.

"What, you're sick of riding with Sam and me?" he teased her.

"No, I just want to ride with Grandpa. Please, Dad?"

Dean shrugged, "It's all right with me."

Sarah cheered, happily and turned around to run back to the vehicles as she shouted, "Grandpa, Dad says yes!"

Come on then," John told her, ushering his granddaughter with his head. "You can get in on my side."

She jumped off the sidewalk and walked over to him, moving where he could open his door before letting her climb in. John tried to help her but Sarah informed him that she didn't need help. John gave her a playful swat before she sidestepped over to the other side of the truck bench and he climbed in, himself.

"That wasn't cool, Grandpa," she gave her grandfather a fake glare, pretending to be mad at him.

He grinned at her, "It wasn't, huh?" John took out his keys from his pocket and started the engine as Sam walked passed John's window. John rolled it down, manually. "Salvation's about a three hour drive from here. Need to stop for gas, Dean?"

Dean was standing on his side of the Impala. "Not really, but Sarah hasn't eaten yet," he replied. "Probably should stop somewhere or you're gonna be hearing complaining the whole way."

"Okay, that's fine. First place I see that serves or sells food, we'll stop," said John.

"Preferably somewhere with chocolate milk," Sarah added.

John looked over at her. "You will be grateful for whatever they have, even if there is none," he told her, sternly.

"Yes, sir," she replied. Sarah wanted to say something to what he had said, but decided it was best not to.

Sam noticed Sarah was riding with John. "Sarah, I was gonna do some schooling with you on the way," he told her. "Can you ride with us for now?"

"Can't we do it some other time?" she asked her uncle. "I want to ride with Grandpa.

Sam was about to give in but decided to open his car door and grab the fourth grade work book off the seat. "I want you to do the page I have marked. Read the story and answer the questions that follow it." He held the book out to his father to pass to Sarah, but John pushed it away.

"Sam, Sarah can do it later. We have more important things to take care of, right now."

"Her education is always more important than anything else, Dad," Sam told him.

"I understand, Sam."

"We're just driving right now, okay? It usually takes Sarah five minutes tops to finish an assignment." Sam held the book out to John again.

John sighed and took the book from his youngest son as Sarah said, "No, Grandpa. Don't give in." He handed it to her and Sarah took it with a groan, leaning back on the seat.

"I want complete sentences, Sarah," Sam reminded her. "You've been slacking on your work and we all know you can do a lot better."

"Yes, Uncle Sam," she told him.

"Let's go, we're burning daylight," John said and put his truck into reverse.

Sam got into the Impala, shutting his door and John backed out of the parking space before switching his truck into drive and drove from the parking lot, followed by Dean. Not too far away, John spotted a Jack-in-a-Box and went through the drive-thru, letting Dean go first since he was paying for breakfast.

"What do you want?" he asked Sarah when it was their turn.

Sarah looked up from her assignment over at the large menu, taking her time deciding.

"Sometime today, kid," he told her with a little impatience.

"I want a waffle sandwich," she finally decided. "Do they have chocolate milk?"

John asked the woman through the intercom.

"No, we just have regular milk," she told them.

He looked back at his granddaughter. "Is plain milk okay?"

"Yeah," she agreed, disappointed.

"You mean, yes," John corrected her and told the woman that milk was fine and ordered a meaty breakfast burrito. When the order was complete, he drove up to the first window and handed the woman his credit card and looked over at Sarah. "So, what's that story about your uncle has you reading?"

Sarah looked back up after she finished the sentence she was writing. "This kid, Erik had to visit his grandparents on a Saturday even though he didn't want to. When Erik found an old key, his grandfather told him that it opened a special room he goes in when his wife wants him to do the dishes," she summarized the story.

John took his card back from the woman. "And what was in the special room?" he asked.

"It was a game room with a pool table."

"So what kind of questions does it ask?" he continued to ask while they waited on Dean to move.

"Right now, I just finished answering why Erik thought the key would open the attic door."

"And what did you write?"

"The key looked old and attics usually hold old things," Sarah told him. "How come you want to know?"

John shrugged, "Just curious and making conversation. So, what grade are you in, right now or are supposed to be in."

"Fourth grade," she replied.

"You're eight, right? Shouldn't you be in third grade, or at least second?"

"I got bumped up a grade," she explained. "I'm usually the smartest kid in my class."

John leaned on his door while holding the steering wheel in the other. "You are just like your uncle," he smiled at his granddaughter.

"My mom was smart, too. She went to the same college Uncle Sam went to until she found out she was pregnant with me then she quit so she could take care of me."

"That's what your other grandfather told me. He said you two were homeless when you were two until he finally found you," he said as he pulled up to the second window when they were finally able to move.

"Really?" she asked. "I don't remember that."

"Well, because you were very young," John told her as he took the drinks first, passing Sarah's to her.

"But I have a really good memory, though."

"Usually memories don't start until at least four and even then, it's very vague. Like your father. He remembers your grandmother and what happened that night we lost her, but that's about it." John placed his drink between his legs and took the bag of food from the young man, working the window. He thanked him and moved to a parking spot next to the Impala so he could pass out the food.

John took out one of the hashbrowns and passed it to Sarah. "Would you like mine, Sarah?" He noticed Dean was waving his hand, trying to get their attention. "Row your window down." Sarah looked over at her father and leaned forward to turn the clank, rolling the window all the way down.

"I was wrong, I do need gas," Dean called over to John.

"Why didn't you call me before we pulled into Jack-in-the-box, Dean?" John asked, annoyance apparent in his voice.

He shrugged, "Jack-in-the-box sounded good."

"How empty is it?"

"It's getting close to E," Dean replied.

John ran his left hand down his face before he said, "Okay, but this is the last stop for a while." He finished taking the food out, placing the bag on the floor. "Put your trash in there when you're done. Okay, Sarah?"

"Yes, sir," she replied, opening her sandwich.

"And don't spill anything in here, either," he added.

Sarah rolled her eyes, "You sound like Dad, Grandpa."

John was backing out again. "Food stains the upholstery." John turned the steering wheel with his right hand, fast and put it into drive before pulling from the parking lot, stopping for a car that drove by.

Once Sarah finished her assignment, she and John started talking, laughing now and then and getting to know one another, forgetting the time.

As they neared Salvation, Iowa, Sarah was telling her grandfather some jokes she knew. "Why are ghosts bad liars?" she was asking him.

"Why?" he replied for the eighth time.

"Because you can see right through them.," Sarah laughed. "Well, the cartoon ones, anyway."

John laughed.

"Oh yeah," she remembered another one. "What dog can jump higher than a building?"

He replied, "What?"

"Any dog, because buildings can't jump. What's a witch's favorite part in school?" Sarah asked.

"What's that?"

"Spelling."

John had to think about that one for a few seconds before it hit him. "Oh, right. 'Cause witches do spells," he smiled at her and the road.

Sarah nodded, "Mm hm."

John reached over at tickled his granddaughter. "You are too cute, kid. Possibly cuter than your uncle was but don't tell him I said that," he told her, taking his hand back. At that point, his cell phone rang. John took it from inside his jacket and answered it. "What's up, Caleb? What?! Son of a…" John was silent as Caleb talked. When they finished he said, "Thanks, Caleb. I'll talk to you later" and hung up, putting his phone away.

"What's wrong, Grandpa?" Sarah asked.

"A friend of mine was killed," he told her, slowing down. John pulled over on the side of the road and parked, getting out as Dean did the same. Sarah sidestepped over to her grandfather's side to slide out on her stomach and shut the door, hurrying to catch up to him. "Damn it!"

"What is it?" Dean shrugged.

John hit his truck in frustration, "Son of a bitch! I just got a call from Caleb."

"Is he okay?" he asked.

"He's fine. Jim Murphy's dead."

Sam leaned on the Impala, "Pastor Jim?"

John nodded over at him.

"How?"

"Throat was slashed," John explained. "He bled out."

Sam and Dean looked away, disappointed to hear their father's friend was dead.

"Caleb says they found traces of sulfur at Jim's place," John continued.

"The demon," said Dean. "_The Demon_?"

He shook his head, "I don't know. It could be he just got…He got careless. He slipped up."

"Is he a hunter, too?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, baby girl," Dean answered her. "We used to stay with him when we were kids."

"Oh, after Uncle Bobby threatened Grandpa with a shotgun?" she asked, remembering what Bobby had told her.

He nodded.

"The demon knows we have the Colt now, he must know we're getting close to him," she shrugged.

"That'll be my guess, Sarah," John agreed with her.

"What do you wanna do?" asked Dean.

"Now we act like every second counts."

"Um, having we been acting that way, all day?" Sarah asked, innocently.

"Sarah," Dean told her, getting her attention and shook his head, letting her know to just stay quiet for now.

"There's two hospitals and a health center in this county," John explained. "We split up, we cover more ground. I want records. I want a list of every infant that's gonna be six months old in the next week."

"Dad, that could be dozens of kids," said Sam. "How the hell are we gonna know which one's the right one?"

"We'll check'em all, that's how," he told him. "You got any better ideas?"

Sam came up blank and replied, "No, sir."

John turned back to his truck.

"Sarah, since we're splitting up, do you want to come with me or Sam?" Dean asked his daughter.

"Can I stay with Grandpa?" she asked.

"Dad, you mind keeping her, still? I'll take her if you want," he asked his father, who was leaning on his truck.

"No, she can stay with me if she wants," said John, looking downward.

"Dad?"

"Yeah." He turned back around. "It's Jim. You know, I can't…" John paused, looking away for a moment. Sarah hugged him to comfort him, telling him it was okay. He looked at Sam and Dean, "This ends now. I'm ending it. I don't care what it takes." John turned and walked away, calling back for his granddaughter. "Let's go, Sarah. Hurry up." He thrust open his door.

"Hold up, Sarah," Dean told her and quickly got her fake ID from the glove compartment in the Impala, tossing it to her.

Sarah caught it in both hands and hurried over to climb in but John lifted her up, not wanting to wait for her, this time before he got in, shutting his door and driving off again.


	40. Chapter 40

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 40

John and Sarah took one of the hospitals, posing as officers requesting information. Between the two of them, it took a couple of hours to write down each infant.

Once they had all they need, John and Sarah left the hospital. Once outside, it hit. Sarah stopped at the edge of the sidewalk, clutching her forehead in pain. John looked back to see if his granddaughter was keeping up and saw Sarah fall to her knees and ran back over.

He kneeled on the blacktop, touching her right shoulder. "Sarah, what's wrong?"

Sarah could not respond as visions of a mobile of clowns and a lamp crossed through her mind before it showed a young mother, rocking her baby to sleep. When the mother put her baby in its crib, she looked around the room. A train was heard off in the distance.

"Sarah, talk to me. What's wrong?" John kept trying. He wanted to run back into the hospital but also did not want to leave Sarah.

Soon, Sarah was able to speak. "I know who the demon's going after next. Somewhere with a train," she said.

"What?" John was at a lost for words. "How do you know that? What just happened?"

"I can't explain it, you have to trust me." Sarah tried to stand up. John helped her and walked her to his truck where they climbed in.

John grabbed a map off the dash and looked at it, finding where there might be a train near some houses before starting the engine and heading over there. "Start explaining, Sarah," he said as he drove. "What happened? You seem like you're used to this kind of thing."

Sarah was sitting on her legs, looking out the window as she held onto the door. "Uncle Sam and I…we get these…these visions. They started out as nightmares when we sleep but ever since we met this Max guy, we get'em during the day now. We see it first and then it happens," she explained as she scanned the houses as they blurred passed.

He looked between her and the road, ahead, holding the steering wheel in his right hand. "A vision?" he questioned.

Sarah nodded, not looking back.

John sighed, "When was your dad and uncle gonna tell me about this?" He shook his head as he looked ahead. "As soon as something like this happens, someone needs to pick up the phone and call me."

Sarah looked back at him. "Call you?" she questioned. "Grandpa, Uncle Sam called you when Dad was dying. Dad told me, he called you when we were in Lawrence, and after my first hunt, too. We would sooner get a call from the president than get you to call us. So don't be blaming Dad for this. Or Uncle Sam, because they tried to call." Sarah returned to looking out the window, scanning for the house when another vision hit. Sarah clutched her forehead again, laying it on the door as she cried out in pain.

"Sarah? Is this another vision?" John asked. "Sarah."

Tears filled her shut eyes as visions of the same mother flashed through her mind again. This time, a soft lullaby was playing from a child's music box and the same clown mobile was there. Suddenly, the music stopped and the clock on the wall stopped as well as everything got quiet. The wind blew from an open window, rattling the mobile as a shadow walked up towards the infant's crib.

The mother walked into the nursery at that point, catching the shadow. "What are you…?" She then was shot up against the wall and slid towards the ceiling where she was then pinned. Blood appeared on her stomach and dripped down before the mother burst into flames.

The vision ended as Sarah snapped up, falling back off her legs. This was the most painful vision she had experienced yet. "Y-yeah. This is the one. The demon is going after a baby named Rosie. Ah!" Sarah gave a small yelp from the pain coming from her head.

"You sure?" asked John.

"Does it look like I'm unsure?! Yes!" she snapped.

"Hey, do not talk to me like that, young lady," he scolded her, very stern.

"Do you not see me in pain here?" Sarah shot back, regretting it as her head hurt more.

John pulled up to a white house at that point to see Sam right across the street. He was also holding his head. Sam glanced up to see his father's truck and hurried around to Sarah's side, opening the door.

"You saw it, too, didn't you, peanut." he said when he saw his niece.

She nodded and Sam climbed in, setting his backpack on the floor at his feet and scooped Sarah up, into his lap and shut the door.

"The demon's coming here tonight," Sam said as John drove off, comforting his niece in his arms.

"How long have you both been having these visions/nightmares?" John asked of his son.

Sam occasionally rubbed at his eyes in one hand, "The visions, just a few months. With the nightmares, over a year."

"So you see the demon kill someone?"

"No," he shook his head, "this is the first time seeing the demon kill someone. But it is usually of someone dying."

John got on his cell phone and called Dean and picked the closest motel to each of them to meet up at, that they needed to talk. Once John pulled into the parking lot of a motel, Sam opened his door and got out first, slinging his backpack on one shoulder before lifting Sarah, who had fallen asleep, onto his side and shut the door, stepping onto the sidewalk.

Dean stepped out of a motel room and hurried over to his brother to take his daughter from him.

"We had another vision. Sarah seems more exhausted from this one," Sam told him, passing Sarah to his brother.

Dean brushed some hair behind Sarah's right ear, looking at her. "It's been a long day and Sarah didn't get much sleep last night. Probably should let her get some sleep for now." He looked at Sam. "What was the vision?"

The Winchester men went inside and Sam laid out the vision for his father and brother. Dean sat on the foot of one of the beds, holding Sarah on his lap.

John was sitting on the other bed. "Dean, why don't you lay her down on the bed?" he suggested.

Sarah snuggled against her father's neck, sleeping as Dean rubbed her back under her sweatshirt and T-shirt. He was watching her, not paying attention to his father. She looked so peaceful and beautiful in her sleep to him.

"Dean." John raised his voice a tag bit over a normal speaking voice, finally getting his oldest son's attention.

"Huh? What?" he asked.

"I said, why don't you lay Sarah down on the bed," John repeated.

"I've barely seen her all day," Dean shrugged.

John looked away for a second with just his eyes, "Okay."

Sam looked over from his place at the table in the small kitchen area. "Dean doesn't like Sarah away from his side for too long," he explained to their father. "He gets all emotional and warm when she's been away from him." Sam smiled when he got a hard glare from his brother.

"I do not," he tried to argue, trying to sound like his normal, tough macho self.

"You do too, Dean," replied Sam. "Besides, nothing wrong with it," he shrugged. "You have a young daughter, it's normal for a father to feel that way."

Dean looked down at his daughter's sleeping form. The only person who could soften both his interior and exterior shell.

"Can we can the _Full House _moment and continue talking about these visions and the demon here?" John asked his boys.

Sam shrugged, "I don't know what else to say. It seems like the closer Sarah and I get to anything involving the demon, the stronger the visions get."

Remembering what Sarah had told him in the truck, John rubbed his face in his hands. "I wish you boys had told me about this before."

"We didn't know what it meant," Dean shrugged.

At that moment, Sam's cell phone rang from where it lied on the table. He picked it up, looking at the number. It wasn't a number he knew either. "Hello?"

"Sam?" came a female's voice.

"Who is this?" Sam asked them.

"Think will hard. It will come to you."

Sam thought on it until it dawned on him. "Meg." He looked over at Dean for a brief moment as John stood up. "Last time I saw you, you fell out of a window."

"Yeah, thanks to you," she said. "That really hurt my feelings, by the way."

"Just your feelings?" he questioned. "That was a seven-story drop."

"Let me speak to your dad."

Sam looked over at his father, who walked over to him. "My dad? I don't know where my dad is."

"It's time for the grown-ups to talk, Sam," she told him, harshly. "Let me speak to him now."

Sam looked at his father again and reluctantly handed him the phone.

John took it and walked away. "This is John," he said into the phone.

"Howdy, John," said Meg. "I'm Meg. I'm a friend of your boys and rugrat. I'm also the one who watched Jim Murphy choke on his own blood."

John swallowed hard as he dropped his head.

"Still there, John boy?"

"I'm here," he replied, lifting his head.

"Well, that was yesterday," she said. "Today, I'm in Lincoln…" There was a long pause. "…visiting another friend of yours. He wants to say hi."

There was a moment of silence before John heard his friend, Caleb speak into the phone, "John, whatever they do, don't give…"

"Caleb?" John asked, concerned for his friend, making Sam and Dean's heads shoot up in his direction. "Caleb. You listen to me. He's got nothing to do with anything. You let him go."

"We know you have the Colt, John," said Meg, back on the phone.

John shook his head, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, okay. So listen to this." Suddenly, there was a slash sound and John heard Caleb choking and gurgling.

"Caleb?" he asked. "Caleb."

"You hear that?" Meg asked. "That's the sound of your friend dying. Now, let's try this again. We know you have the gun, John. Word travels fast. So as far as we're concerned, you just declared war. And this is what war looks like. It has casualties."

"I'm gonna kill you. You know that?" John told her, coldly.

Meg laughed, "Oh, John, please. Mind your blood pressure. So this is the thing. We're gonna keep doing what we're doing. And your friends, anyone who's ever helped you, gave you shelter, anyone you ever loved, they'll all die unless you give us that gun." John was silent. "I'm waiting, Johnny. Better answer before the buzzer."

John looked at the far wall of the room, "Okay," he finally agreed, quietly.

"Sorry, I didn't quite get that."

"I said okay," he repeated, a little louder. "I'll bring you the Colt."

Sam stared at his father like he was nuts as Meg continued, "There's a warehouse in Lincoln, on the corner of Wabash and Lake. You're gonna meet me there."

"It's gonna take me about a day's drive to get there," he told her.

"Meet me there at midnight, tonight."

"That's impossible. I can't get there in time, and I can't just carry a gun on a plane."

"Oh," she said. "Then I guess your friends die, don't they?"

John closed his eyes, sadly, for a moment. He couldn't let more of his friends die because of him. Not after all they had done for him and his boys.

"If you do decide to make it, come alone." With that, Meg hung up.

John stared at the floor and after a few seconds and hung up, as well.

Dean stood up and gently laid Sarah down on the bed. "Dad, what happened?"

John continued to stare at the floor. "Caleb's dead." He looked up at him, "And they want me to go to Lincoln and hand over the Colt, or more of our friends will be killed," he explained.

"So you think Meg is a demon?" Sam asked, leaning against the decorative railing.

John shrugged, "Either that or she's possessed by one. It doesn't really matter."

"What do we do?" Dean asked.

"I'm going to Lincoln," he told them.

"What?"

John shrugged, "Doesn't seem like I have a choice. If I don't go, a lot of people die. Our friends die."

"Dad," said Sam, "the demon is coming tonight for Monica and her family. That gun is all we got. You can't just hand it over."

"Who said anything about handing it over?" he asked. "Look, besides us and a couple vampires, no one's really seen the gun. No one knows what it looks like."

"So what?" Dean shrugged. "You just gonna pick up a ringer at a pawn shop?"

John shrugged, too, "Antique store."

"You're gonna hand Meg a fake gun and hope she doesn't notice?"

"Look, as long as it's close, she shouldn't be able to tell the difference," he told him.

"Yeah, but for how long?" Dean continued to ask. "What happens when she figures it out?"

"I just…I need to buy a few hours, that's all."

"You mean for Dean, Sarah, and me," said Sam, nodding towards his brother. John did not respond. "You want us to stay here. And kill this demon by ourselves?"

John had dropped his head. He picked it back up to reply, "No, Sam. I want to stop losing people we love." John nodded at him, "I want you to go to school. I want…" He walked away from them, "I want Dean and Sarah to have a home." John choked up, quietly, "I want Mary alive." Sniffing back some tears, he looked back at his boys. "I just…" John walked back towards them, looking off to the side, catching Sarah in his peripheral vision who was still sleeping and looked back at Sam and Dean. "I just want this to be over."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks between them, understanding. They all wanted the nightmare to be over. It had gone on long enough. This demon was outlasting his lifespan for far too long.

"Dean, you think you can find the nearest antique store for me?" John asked after a while.

Dean looked over at his daughter. He did not want to leave his daughter alone especially when they've been apart for the majority of the day and it might freak Sarah out if she woke up and Dean wasn't there. But, Dean agreed anyway and grabbed his jacket and keys. Before he left, Dean leaned over on his knuckles and whispered in Sarah's right ear, "I'll be back in a bit, baby girl. You rest up for tonight. Okay?" and kissed her right temple.

A few minutes later, Sam gently picked Sarah up, into his arms and carried her out to John's truck, sliding in, careful as not to wake her just yet. They wanted to postpone waking her up as long as possible.

Once they arrived at a muddy, dirt road to wait for Dean, Sam slid out and placed Sarah on the seat. After a while, she stirred as John and Sam prepared for John's meeting with Meg. Sarah slowly sat up and looked around at her surroundings, still a little groggily. Rubbing at her left eye, she looked out the back window of her grandfather's truck to see the trunk open.

Sarah opened the passenger side door and slid out on her stomach, shutting it and walked to the back of the truck, rubbing her eye again.

John was the one to notice her since he was on that side. "Hey, kiddo. Have a nice nap?" he asked, gently.

She nodded and noticed Dean wasn't there. "Where's Dad?" she asked.

"Running an errand for me," he told her.

At that point, Dean pulled up in the Impala and got out, walking over to the three of them. Sarah walked over and hugged his left leg, leaning against it. He touched it to him.

"Did you get it?" John nodded towards Dean.

Dean took a brown paper bag from inside his jacket and passed it to his father. "You know this is a trap, don't you?" he said as John took the Colt replica out of the bag. "That's why Meg wants you to come alone."

Sarah's head shot up when she heard Meg was alive. "Meg? You mean, the Meg that was controlling those Daeva things?"

Dean nodded down at her. "I'll fill ya in later on what you missed. Okay?"

She nodded.

"Don't worry, Dean," John spoke up, interrupting the two of them. "I can handle her. I got a whole arsenal loaded. Holy water, Mandaic amulets…"

"Dad…" Dean interrupted him, this time.

"What?" he asked.

"Promise me something."

"What's that?" John nodded at him.

"This thing goes south, just get the hell out," Dean told him. "Don't get yourself killed, all right."

Sarah was looking between her father and grandfather, trying to figure out what they were talking about and stopped at John. "You're leaving again?" she asked when she understood.

John assured her, "Just for a little bit, okay? I'm gonna go hold Meg while you and your dad and uncle finally kill this demon."

Sarah shook her head, quickly. "No, we were supposed to fight this thing together. You can't go, Grandpa. Please don't go."

John placed a hand on her shoulder, "I have to, Sarah."

Tears filled up in her eyes and Sarah hugged him around the legs. "What if the Daevas are there? You can't fight them off by yourself." She was crying against her grandfather's legs. "We couldn't even fight them off together."

John handed both guns to Sam and lifted his granddaughter up, into his arms. "Look at me, Sarah," he told her.

Sarah looked at her grandfather with a tear-drenched face already.

"I've been waiting a long time for this fight. Now it's here and I'm not gonna be in it. But two of my friends are dead. If I don't show up, more will die. Do you understand?"

Sarah nodded.

"I can't hear you," he said, sternly.

Sarah sniffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

"Answer your grandfather, Sarah Lynn," Dean warned.

"Yes, sir," she finally answered John.

"I need to leave now so I need you to stop crying and be the big girl I know you are. You all have a job to do, got it?" John continued.

Sarah wiped her eyes dry, "Yes, sir," she repeated and gave him one last hug before he placed her down on her feet.

"Dean, the same goes to all of you. And make every shot count. Without the bullets that are left, that gun is useless."

"Yes, sir," replied Sam.

"It's up to you three now," he said. "It's your fight. You finish this." John looked between the three of them. "You finish what I started. You understand?"

Sam and Sarah nodded at him. "Yes, sir," Sarah said, sniffing back the rest of her tears.

"We'll see you soon, Dad," said Sam while Dean did not say a word, trying to hold back his emotions.

"I'll see you later," John replied. He touched Sam's left shoulder, turning to head over to the driver's side of his truck. Stealing one last look at his boys and granddaughter, John got inside and started the engine, driving away. Even though it was just for a day, it sure felt weird not having someone right there, next to him, laughing and cracking a joke or two.

It was silent as Sam, Dean, Sarah watched as John's truck got smaller until Sarah finally broke it. "This may not be the best time but I think I left my homeschool book in Grandpa's truck."

They continued to stare forward. "He'll be back, baby girl. It's just for a little while," Dean tried to assure not just his daughter but himself as well.


	41. Chapter 41

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 41

Sarah sat in the backseat of the Impala, staring out the window on her father's side. Her eyes had not left the Monica's house since Dean had pulled up and parked. Sarah wished it could be her to shoot the demon but Dean told her that this was an important fight and they couldn't afford to make mistakes. Not that he thought his daughter would make one, he just wanted to be sure. But that did not mean Sarah didn't want to be there. She told the demon that she was going to be there to see him squirm and that's exactly what Sarah intended on doing, whether it be Sam or Dean to do it.

"Maybe we could tell'em there's a gas leak," Sam was suggesting. "Might get them out of the house for a few hours."

"Yeah, and the demon goes after another family instead and we miss our chance," Sarah replied, still looking out the window.

Sam and Dean looked back, over their shoulders at the little girl. For the past few hours, the men had both noticed the sudden change in Sarah since John left. All she could talk about was that finally they found and will have the chance to kill the demon. In fact that was all Sarah could think about. Her PSP lay untouched under the backseat. Her toys were thrown on the floor in a pile also untouched while her stuffed monkey Pokémon sat on the seat, on the other side from her.

Sarah watched as Monica was putting her baby to bed, rocking her in her arms. It brought up memories when she was little and how she wished Emily had been more affectionate towards her. One night, she remembered when she was four years old, a year before she learned the truth about what was really out there in the shadows.

Sarah pulled her blanket up, over her head when she looked over at her open closet as she whimpered, quietly to herself. The wind was blowing outside and the light of the moon cast a shadow of a tree branch on the inside of the closet door. To a four-year-old, it looked like a scary hand about to grab her.

Sarah quickly jumped up from the bed and ran to her mother's bedroom that was right across the small hallway, jumping onto her bed. "Mommy," she said, trying to wake her up.

Emily stirred, looking up from her pillow, still half asleep. "What are you doing out of bed, Sarah?"

"There is a scary monster in my room," Sarah told her mother.

Emily let out an annoyed moan. "Go to sleep, Sarah. There are no such things as monsters."

"Can I sleep with you?" she asked.

"No, Sarah. Now go get back in your own bed before I spank you," Emily threatened, laying her head back on the pillow, looking away from her daughter.

Defeated, Sarah climbed off her mother's bed and slowly made her way to the kitchen where she grabbed a flashlight from the junk drawer in the small apartment kitchen, standing on a chair, and took it with her, back to bed.

Sarah was snapped out of her thoughts by Dean trying to get her attention. The wind was blowing outside and the lights in Monica's house were flickering on the inside. Sarah grabbed her shotgun just in case, even though it won't have any effect whatsoever and hurried after her father and uncle, towards the house.

Once inside, Monica's husband, thinking they were burglars, swung a baseball bat at Dean. Dean got him pinned to the wall as he and Sam tried to tell him they were there to help.

Monica called out from upstairs.

"Monica, get the baby!" her husband yelled.

"Monica, don't go in the nursery!" Sam yelled.

Sarah took off up the stairs and looked around until she found Monica in the nursery. She then ran in there just as Monica was pinned to the wall. Standing right before her was the dark shadow from her vision. Sarah caught sight of the yellow eyes she knew so well.

"Told ya we'd find you," she said, glaring at him just as Sam ran in behind her and aimed the Colt at the demon. The demon disappeared in a cloud of smoke as he shot at him and Monica was released.

"Where the hell did it go?" Sam wondered out loud and helped Monica up.

Sarah quickly looked around the room, trying to see if the demon would reappear. They couldn't fail this, they just couldn't. This was supposed to be the big fight to end it all. The visions. The headaches. Everything. She was so focused on the demon she almost elbowed her uncle when he scooped her up as the nursery burst into flames.

Sam carried her outside to the front lawn, holding her towards him to protect Sarah from the smoke as everyone else was coughing.

"You get away from my family!" Monica's husband yelled at the Winchesters.

Monica stopped him, "Charlie, don't! They saved us!" She turned around and took her baby from Dean. "I mean, they saved us."

Dean handed over her baby. Holding that baby made him think of just how much he missed of Sarah's childhood. Her first year. Sarah's first word. First step. First everything. In fact, Dean almost didn't want to hand Rosie over. He just kept staring at her as he thought of his own baby girl. "Sorry," he apologized, finally passing Monica her baby.

Sarah had looked up at the broken window of Rosie's nursery to see the demon still in there. Angrily, she tried to run back in but Sam grabbed and shoved her back onto the ground to run in himself. Dean quickly held him back until the demon vanished.

Sarah pounded the ground with the side of her fist, beside her. The demon had gotten away. They failed the fight. Yes, she was glad Monica and her family was okay, but they were supposed to kill the demon, too.

Back at the motel, Sarah sat on the side of the bed, clutching her stuffed monkey Pokémon to her, glaring at the floor as her father tried calling her grandfather.

"Come on, Dad," Dean was saying, his phone to his ear as it rang. "Answer your phone, damn it." Dean stopped pacing, hanging up. "Something's wrong," he said, looking at his phone. No one was paying any attention to him. "Either of you hear me? Something's happened."

Sam was sitting on the foot of the bed Sarah was sitting on. "If you had just let me go in there," he muttered, clearly. "I coulda ended it all."

Dean looked over at his brother, walking towards him. "Sam," he said, "the only thing you would end was your life" and walked away again.

Sam looked up, breathing in, "You don't know that."

Dean turned back around, "So what? You're willing to sacrifice yourself, is that it?"

He stood up. "Yeah. Yeah, you're damn right I am."

"Well, that's not gonna happen," Dean told him. "Not as long as I'm around."

"What the hell are you talkin' about, Dean?" Sam asked. "We've been searching for this demon our whole lives. It's the only thing we ever cared about."

"Sam, I want to waste it, I do. Okay? But it's not worth dying over."

"What?"

"I mean it," said Dean. "If huntin' this demon means getting' yourself killed, then I hope we never find the damn thing."

Sarah looked up at her father when he said that. "But then we will never kill him, Dad. We have to find it," she tried to argue.

"No, Sarah," he shook his head.

"You said it yourself this was a dangerous job."

"That thing killed Jess, Dean," Sam reminded him, too. "That thing killed Mom."

"And my mom, too," Sarah added, standing up now. "And my aunt."

"Since when do you care again about your mom, Sarah?" Dean asked of her. "Lately, you seem not to, anymore."

"She's still my mom, Dad. I still have some love left for her," she told him.

"Well, Sam said it once…That no matter what we do, they're gone," he said. "And they're not coming back."

Sarah threw down her monkey Pokémon and tried to tackle her father, punching him, repeatedly in the legs. She didn't use her whole strength though like when she had punched Sam, but Dean could feel them as tears ran down both sides of her face. "Don't say something like that now, Dad. Not you! Not after everything! Please, don't say that."

Dean took hold of her wrists and kneeled down to her level as Sarah tried to pull back. "Sarah, look," he told her, trying to get her to look at him. "Look at me, Sarah." Sarah stopped struggling but continued to look away. Dean continued anyway, "The four of us…that's all we have."

Sarah sniffed, loudly, wiping her face on her upper, left arm.

"And it's all I have." He paused for a moment, watching her. "Sometimes I feel like I'm barely holding it together."

Sam was breathing hard as he was listening, too. He was gonna pin his brother against the wall but his niece had beaten him to it.

"Without Sam and Dad, and you…" Dean looked down, shaking his head, slowly.

Sarah finally looked at her father and hugged his neck as Sam walked away, squeezing the bridge of his nose. "Dad," he said and let out a breath of air. "He shoulda called by now. Try him again."

Dean let go of his daughter, standing up to redial John's number. It rang before Meg finally answered.

"You really screwed up this time," she said.

Dean looked over at Sam, "Where is he?"

Sam and Sarah looked at Dean.

"You're never gonna see your father again."

Dean stared at nothing, his eyes wide in fear as he hung up. "They've got Dad," he said as he walked past Sam, turning around.

"Meg?" asked Sam.

He nodded, staring at the ground. Dean was just in total shock.

"What'd she say?"

"I just told you, Sammy," said Dean.

"We have to go save him," Sarah said, worried for her grandfather.

He nodded, "Yeah, okay. Okay." Dean went over and picked up the Colt from the nightstand, placing it behind him and grabbed his duffel bag. "We gotta go."

Sarah hurried over and grabbed hers and her monkey Pokémon from the floor.

"Dean," said Sam.

"The demon knows we're in Salvation," he told him, putting his jacket on. "It knows we have the Colt. It's got Dad. It's probably coming for us next."

"Good. We've still got three bullets left. Let it come."

Dean looked up at his brother, "Listen, tough guy, we're not ready. Okay. We don't know how many of 'em are out there. Now, we're no good to anybody dead. We're leaving. Now!" He then hurried out the door, out to the Impala.

Sarah followed, closely behind.

Out on the road, Dean sped down the road.

"I'm telling you," Sam continued, "we could've taken them."

Both of them were staring forward. "What we need is a plan," said Dean. "They're probably keeping Dad alive."

"How do you know that, Dad?" Sarah asked from behind him, hugging her monkey Pokémon to her.

Dean looked at her through the rear-view mirror, "They'll want to trade him for the gun" and looked straight ahead again. "We just gotta figure out where."

Sam shook his head, looking away.

Dean noticed. "What?" he asked annoyed.

"Dean, if that were true…why didn't Meg mention a trade? Dad. He might be…"

"Don't," Dean told him.

Sam finally looked at his brother, "I don't want to believe it any more than you…but if he is, all the more reason to kill this damn thing. We still have the Colt. We can still finish the job."

"Screw the job, Sam!"

"Dean, I'm just trying to do what he would want," he said. "He would want us to keep going."

Sarah was looking between the men, "Is Grandpa dead or not?"

"Sam, will you quit talking like he's dead?" Dean asked of him. "You're scaring Sarah. Listen to me. Everything stops until we get Dad back. Do you understand me? Everything."

Sam sighed, "So how do we find him then?"

"Maybe we go to Lincoln," Dean suggested. "Start at the warehouse where he was taken."

"Come on, Dean," he said. "You really think these demons are gonna leave a trail?"

Dean agreed, "You're right. We need help" and sped up.


	42. Chapter 42

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 42

The Impala pulled into the salvage yard and parked in front of the blue, faded house. Once Sarah had figured out where they were headed, her spirits were lifted. When Dean came to a stop, Sarah was jumping out of the car before he could even shut off the engine, and ran up towards the front door.

The old, Rottweiler dog that lied, lazily on the hood of an old, blue tow truck had lifted his head when the Impala had pulled up and when he saw who had gotten out first, jumped down from the side.

Sarah kneeled down in front of the dog and got a series of wet, slobbery "kisses." She laughed from it and hugged the dog's neck with one arm since she was still holding her monkey Pokémon still. "I missed you, too, Rumsfeld," she told the dog.

Dean and Sam were walking up to the front door. "Let's go, Sarah," Dean told her. "This isn't a friendly visit. We have work to do."

Sarah stood up and patted the dog's head as she followed her uncle and father. Dean rang the doorbell and seconds later, Bobby answered the door. Sarah immediately hugged his legs.

"Hi, Uncle Bobby," she greeted the old hunter, catching him off guard.

"Hey, kiddo," he replied, smiling down at her and looked between Sam and Dean. He could tell something was up and let the three of them inside.

Sam was sitting at Bobby's desk, looking at an old book on demons while Sarah stood beside him, leaning on her folded arms.

"Here you go," Bobby was handing Dean a small flask of holy water.

Dean took it. "What is this, holy water?" he asked, looking it over.

"That one is," Bobby nodded at it and held up the other he was still holding, "This is whiskey" and took a drink.

Dean took that one to take a swig of it himself and handed it back to Bobby. "Bobby, thanks. Thanks for everything. "Tell you the truth, I wasn't sure if we should come."

Bobby shrugged, "Nonsense. Your daddy needs helps."

"Yeah, but you did threaten to blast him full of buckshot. You cocked the shotgun and everything."

He took in a huge breath of air, "Yeah, well, what can I say? John just has that effect on people."

Dean smirked, "Yeah, guess he does."

"Besides, I'd take any excuse to see snotball over there," Bobby nodded over at Sarah.

Dean looked over at his daughter and smiled. He turned back to look at Bobby, "Yeah, once she figured out where we were headed, Sarah could not shut up about seeing you again. At least it took her mind off of…"

Bobby smiled over at Sarah and looked at Dean from the corner of his eye, "Yeah, Sarah's a good kid. Reminds me a lot of when you and Sam were kids."

Dean rubbed the back of his head, "I get that a lot."

Sam interrupted them when he thought they were done, "Bobby, this book…" He shook his head. "I've never seen anything like it."

Bobby walked over to Sam and sat down on the edge of the desk, leaning on his leg, "_Key of Solomon_?It's the real deal, all right."

"And, uh, these protective circles, they really work?" he asked.

"Hell, yeah," Bobby told him. "You get a demon in one…they're trapped. Powerless. It's like a satanic roach motel."

Sam laughed.

"Man knows his stuff," Dean stated like it was a well-known fact and walked over to them.

"I'll tell you something else, too," Bobby continued. "This is some serious crap you boys stepped into." Sarah cleared her throat, loudly. "And Sarah," he added and winked over at her. The one drawback of being the only girl. Even though she was a tomboy, Sarah still acknowledged who she really was.

"Oh, yeah? How's that?" asked Sam.

"Normal year, I hear of…say, three demonic possessions. Maybe four, tops," he explained.

"Yeah?" asked Dean.

"This year, I heard of twenty-seven. So far."

"Plus, remember that demon crashing airplanes, taking no survivors, Dad?" Sarah added.

"Yeah, I remember," he nodded at her.

"See what I'm saying?" Bobby asked the boys. "More and more demons are walking among us. A lot more."

"Do you know why?" Sam asked.

"No," he replied, "but I know it's something big. Storm's coming. And you boys…Sarah… And your daddy, you are smack in the middle of it."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks before they heard Rumsfeld barking from outside.

"Rumsfeld." Bobby hurried over to the window. Sarah ran over too, both looking outside. All they saw was the broken chain the dog was hitched to and Rumsfeld nowhere to be seen. "Something's wrong," he said as Sarah ran over to her father, her eyes filling up with tears. She hugged Dean's leg as Meg came bursting through the door, walking inside.

Sarah glared at her and ran towards Meg, getting thrown back.

"Sarah!" Dean cried out. He turned back to Meg.

"No more crap. Okay?" Meg told them.

Dean unscrewed the lid to the flask he was still holding and walked towards Meg, staring her down. Meg sent him flying as well, into a pile of books. Sam quickly stood up, and stepped in front of Bobby.

"I want the Colt, Sam. The real Colt. Right now."

Sam and Bobby were moving over to the center of the room. "We don't have it on us," he said. "We buried it."

Meg walked towards them, "Didn't I say, no more crap? I swear, after everything I heard about you Winchesters, I gotta tell you, I'm a little underwhelmed. First Johnny tries to pawn off a fake gun, and he leaves the real gun with you three chuckleheads. Lackluster, man. I mean, did you really think I wouldn't find you?"

Dean and Sarah slowly walked up behind Meg. "Actually," said Dean, "We were counting on it."

Meg looked back over her right shoulder, looking at them out of the corner of her eye and turned around to fully face the two. Both Dean and Sarah were smirking at her before looking up at the ceiling. Meg looked up too, to see a demon circle painted on the ceiling.

"Gotcha," Sarah told her.

The men then proceeded by grabbing a chair and tying Meg to it, sitting back and watching her as Sarah helped Bobby salt all the windows and doors. Sarah tried to keep her mind from thinking about her new best friend, whom she only got to play with for a week, dead. Since she could remember, Sarah always wanted a dog.

When they were done, Sarah and Bobby returned to his study. "All the doors and windows are salted," Bobby told the boys. "If there are any demons out there, they ain't getting in."

Dean stood up and walked through them, walking over to Meg, who had a stupid grin on her face. "Where's our father, Meg?" he asked of her.

"You didn't ask very nice," she replied.

"Where's our father, bitch?"

Meg pretended to be offended, "Jeez. You kiss your mother with that mouth?" she asked. "Oh, I forgot. You don't."

Sam held Sarah back when she made to run over there and punch Meg in the face as Dean got close to her, himself. "You think this is a frigging game?!" he snapped at Meg, leaning on both arms of the chair. "Where is he?! What did you do to him?"

Meg seemed like she was staying calm. "He died screaming. I killed him myself."

Sarah hurried over to the desk and grabbed her monkey, hurrying back over to her uncle, hugging it to her, tightly. She didn't want her grandfather to be dead. They were just now getting to know each other. She wanted other days like the day before. John may be hard-headed at times but he was still her grandfather.

She jumped when Dean slapped Meg across the face.

Meg smiled up at him, "That's kind of a turn-on…you hitting a girl."

"You're no girl," Dean told her, bluntly.

Bobby stood up, "Dean," he said as he walked into the kitchen. Sam and Sarah followed as Dean stared at Meg for a moment longer before following as well.

"You okay?" Sam asked his brother.

"She's lying," Dean told him, angrily as he walked over to Bobby. "He's not dead."

"Dean, you gotta be careful with her," Bobby told him. "Don't hurt her."

Dean stared at the older hunter, "Why?"

"Because she really is a girl, that's why."

"What are you talking about?" asked Sam.

"She's possessed," Bobby told them. "That's a human possessed by a demon. Can't you tell?"

"Yeah, I thought it was obvious," Sarah shrugged, feeling the monkey's large big ear in her hand as she continued to hold it in her arms.

"You did not," Sam told her, rolling his eyes.

"Did, too! Ever since I found out she was still alive. How else could she be?" she shot back.

Sam shrugged, "Then why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I thought you knew already, college boy."

"Enough, you two," Dean told them over his shoulder and returned to Bobby, "So, you're telling me there's an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there?"

Bobby nodded.

He looked back at Meg for a moment. "That's actually good news."

"You mean exorcising her back to hell?" Sarah asked him.

"If she doesn't tell us what we want to know, yeah."

"Dad, if we do that, the real Meg is gonna die," she pointed out. "She was thrown out of a building, remember? That demon is the only thing keeping her alive."

"Do you want to find your grandfather or not, Sarah?" he asked of her. Sarah didn't answer to that, looking away at the floor. Yes, she wanted to find her grandfather but she felt badly for the girl who was trapped in there somewhere, probably scared out of her mind. "Besides, if she does have to die, she'll be out of her misery. Okay?"

Sarah finally looked back at her father and nodded.

Sam got his father's journal and opened it up the page with the exorcism written on it, going over to Meg, after sharing a look with Dean.

Meg looked at Sam, "You gonna read me a story?"

Dean was the one to respond, "Something like that. Hit it, Sam."

Sarah stayed back in the entryway, watching. Bobby stood behind her and touched both of her shoulders, trying to help ease her nerves. This was only her second time involved in a demon exorcism, the first time being a year ago on a plane. At least this time, they were on solid ground. Sarah looked up at Bobby, upside down, and then back at the scene when she heard her uncle begin.

She saw Meg just smirk. "An exorcism?" asked Meg. "Are you serious?"

"Oh, we're going for it, baby," said Dean. "Head spinning, projectile vomiting, the whole nine yards."

As Sam kept going, Meg started to moan, making him stop. She looked back at him, "I'm gonna kill you." Meg then looked at Dean. "I'm gonna rip the bones from your body."

"No," Dean told her, "you're gonna burn in hell. Unless you tell us where our dad is," he nodded at her, once.

Meg just kept right on smiling, not saying anything.

"Well, at least you'll get a nice tan." Dean looked over at his brother for him to continue and Sam continued reading, circling around her. Meg was starting to pant, heavily as the exorcism proceeded.

She moaned, making Sam stop again, "He begged for his life with tears in his eyes. He begged to see his family one last time. That's when I slit his throat."

When Sarah heard Meg say she had killed her grandfather, she turned around and hugged Bobby's leg in one arm as she held her monkey in the other, tightly. Bobby lifted Sarah up and carried her into another room, away from everything.

"It's okay, little one," Bobby assured her, comforting the little girl.

"Grandpa can't be dead, Uncle Bobby," she sniffed, quietly. "We were just starting to be a family."

"Sometimes demons lie though if they think it would mess with your head. Your grandfather could be still alive," he explained as screaming was heard from his study.

Sarah had her head against his shoulder, sniffing back more tears. "I hope so," she said. "I want to tell him more jokes."

Bobby smiled at that. "Like the ones you told me?"

She nodded. "Sorry about Rumsfeld, Uncle Bobby," Sarah sniffed again.

"It'll be okay. The old boy lived a great, long life." Even though Bobby shrugged it off, he really was going to miss his dog.

"I'm gonna miss him. He liked it when we played fetch together and he liked when I gave him treats, too."

Bobby forced a grin for Sarah, "Yeah, ol Rumsfeld loved his treats."

"Who's gonna keep you company now?" Sarah asked.

"Don't worry, I have enough hunters that come through here, regularly," he assured her, "I don't think I'll be lonely. And, I know I'll still have one buddy I can count on to keep me company, once in a while."

"Who?"

"You." Bobby kissed Sarah on the cheek, his beard tickling it as she giggled.

Suddenly, they heard Dean yell for water and blankets, and to call 911. Bobby put Sarah down onto her feet and ran inside, calling 911 first. Sarah hurried in to see Meg lying on the floor, choking as blood leaked from her month. Sam and Dean were on either side of her.

Meg whispered something that Sarah couldn't quite hear and moved to her father's other side at Meg head. She tried to lift Meg's head to place her monkey underneath for a pillow but Dean stopped her before she could.

"Don't Sarah," he told her. "Her body's completely broken. You can't move any part of her."

"I just wanted to let her use Chimchar so she'd be more comfortable," she said.

Dean placed a hand on her shoulder, "I know, baby girl but just let us handle it. Okay?"

Sarah nodded.

"Thanks for trying to help though." Dean then returned his attention back to Meg. Sam was telling her to take it easy.

"I've been awake…" Meg continued. "For some of it. I couldn't move my own body."

"I'm so sorry this happened to you," Sarah told her, trying to make Meg feel better.

Dean and Sam had exchanged looks between each other when Meg had spoke.

"And things looked…It…" Meg was having trouble breathing. Sarah looked like she might start crying again. "It's a nightmare."

"Was it telling us the truth about our dad?" Dean asked her.

Sam and Sarah looked at him. "Dean," said Sam.

"We need to know," he told his brother.

Meg answered, "Yes." She inhaled and exhaled several times, painfully. "But it wants…you to know…that…they want you to come for him."

Dean shook his head, "Dad's still alive, none of that matters."

Bobby returned with a glass of water and blankets. Dean took the water and very carefully lifted her head up by the back of her neck so she could take a drink as Sam placed one of the blankets where her head was.

"Where is the demon we're looking for?" Sam asked her once her head was lying down again.

Meg had her eyes closed. "Not there," she shook her head. "Other ones." She then opened them a little. "Awful ones."

Sam looked at Dean as Dean asked her, "Where are they keeping our dad?"

Meg looked over at him, "By…the riv…River. S-s-sunrise."

"Sunrise? What does that mean?"

She didn't respond.

"What does that mean?" Dean grew anxious.

Meg still did not respond.

Sarah sniffed back a tear and placed a hand over Meg's eyes, closing them for good and hugged her monkey to her, burying her head on top of its orange head. Dean put his arm around his daughter as he continued to stare down at Meg's lifeless body. Sam looked over at him, not saying a word. In fact, no one said anything for a few minutes before they stood up, walking out of the room.

"Uh, you better hurry up and beat it," Bobby told them, "before the paramedics get here."

"What are you gonna tell them?" Dean asked.

"You think you guys invented lying to the cops? I'll figure something out." He held up the book on demons to Sam. "Here. Take this. You might need it."

Sam and Dean both thanked the older hunter and Dean told him to be careful.

"You just go find your dad. And when you do, you bring him around, would ya?" Bobby shrugged, "I won't even try to shoot him this time."

Sarah hugged Bobby around the legs, holding her monkey against the left one until Dean peeled her away and led her over to the front door, without a word. The three of them left as Dean shut the door behind him.


	43. Chapter 43

**Sorry it took so long to update. I've been looking for a job and trying to focus more on that. Hopefully, this chapter being a little longer than the others makes up for that. **

**So, here is the last chapter for season one! :) Don't worry, it doesn't end here, I promise. For Christmas, I got season two-five on DVD so it'll be a while before I end this story. Also, just want to say, to the reviewer who said that Dean probably wouldn't sell his soul for Sam since he has a daughter. While that is very true, there wouldn't be a story if he didn't. Say Sam died and Dean didn't do anything. Dean would have never gone to hell, broke the first seal, and then Sam would have never killed Lilith, releasing Lucifer from his cage and then the angels would not need Dean to say yes to Michael and fight Lucifer. In the summary, I did say that this story follows the series and I mean the main plot of the series, I just change a few things here and there to fit Sarah in. Hopefully, that covers it and I will shut up now so you can read the chapter everyone's been waiting for.**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 43

The Winchesters were in Jefferson City, Missouri. Dean was standing at the trunk, loading his gun, not saying a word. Sarah was sitting in the backseat, doing the same thing, making sure everything looked fine. She was so glad that John was still alive and wanted nothing more than to help her father and uncle get him back. Family was the most important thing to Sarah and nothing would stop her from helping to rescue John.

After examining each piece of her gun, Sarah put it back together and got out of the Impala to put the gun behind her, pulling her sweatshirt down, over it. Sarah shut her door and walked back to where Dean was standing.

"You okay, Dad?" she asked of him.

"Yeah. I'm okay, baby girl," he told her not looking from the gun in his hand.

Sam was looking through Bobby's book on the hood, on his side. "You've been quiet," he said.

Dean didn't respond right away as he checked the gun in his hands. "Just getting ready," was all he said after a moment.

Sam looked ahead from where he was standing, squinting from the bright sun. "He's gonna be fine, Dean." When Dean didn't respond again, Sam continued flipping through the book.

Sarah looked up at her father, shading her eyes from the sun with her hand. "We'll find him, Dad. Don't worry," she tried to assure him, herself.

Dean looked over at his daughter. "I know we will, baby girl." Dean then returned his focus on the gun until he felt Sarah hug his legs. He smiled down at her then caught sight of Sam drawing something on the hood of the trunk and quickly moved over to see it. "Dude, what are you drawing on my car?"

"It's called a devil's trap," Sam explained as he continued. "Demons can't get through or inside it."

"So?"

Sam gave one last look at the picture in the book before moving around to the other side of the car, "Basically turns the trunk into a lockbox."

Dean wiped his fingers on it, trying to see if it came off. "So?" he repeated.

Sam wiped the dirt off and started drawing the same symbol. "So," he said, "We have a place to hide the Colt while we go get Dad."

"What are ya, nuts?" Sarah asked of her uncle. "Why would we leave behind the best weapon we have?"

"We have to save what bullets we have left, Sarah. We can't just use the Colt on just any demon, we gotta use them on thee demon."

Dean walked towards Sam. "No, we have to save Dad, Sam. We're gonna need all the help we can get."

Sam closed the book, "Dean, you know how pissed Dad would be if we used all the bullets? He wouldn't want us to bring the gun."

"But grandpa would understand, wouldn't he? If he knew we brought it to save him," said Sarah.

"No, he wouldn't. We went through a lot of trouble for this gun, Sarah and if it he knew we used all three bullets on a bunch of regular demons, he'd kill us," he explained.

"Then Grandpa would be a hypocrite because he used it on that vampire," she pointed out.

"Don't argue with me on this, okay Peanut?" Sam just told her. "He wouldn't want us to bring the gun and that's that."

"I don't care, Sam. I don't care what Dad wants, okay," Dean blurted out. "And since when do you care what Dad wants?"

"We want to kill this demon," he shot back. "You used to want that too. Hell, you're the one who came and got me at school. You're the one who dragged me back into this. You're the one who dragged your kid into this, Dean. I'm just trying to finish it."

Dean just shook his head at Sam, looking down. "Boy, you and Dad are more alike than I thought, you know that?" he said. "You both can't wait to sacrifice yourself for this thing. But you know what? I'm gonna be the one to bury you."

Sam looked off to the side.

Dean looked down again. "You're selfish, you know that? You don't care about anything than revenge."

Sarah had been volleying her head back and forth, listening to her uncle and father. She looked down at Dean's last few comments. She wanted nothing more than to avenge her family, and wanting to watch this demon die, she didn't think how anyone else felt. For all Sarah figured, her father didn't care either but hearing how upset he was, made her feel lousy.

"I'm sorry, Dad," she told him.

Dean looked down at his daughter, "For what?" he asked.

"For being selfish and only wanting revenge when I didn't even think about you."

He shook his head, "Baby girl, you're not selfish. Don't worry about what we're talking about. Okay? You have a lot more cares than your uncle and grandfather has."

Sam looked at his brother. He couldn't believe what Dean just told his niece about him. "That's not true, Dean."

Dean scoffed, messing with the Colt in his hand.

"I want Dad back but they are expecting us to bring this gun. They get the gun, they will kill us all."

Sarah grew scared when he said that.

"That Colt is our only leverage and you know it, Dean. We cannot bring that gun."

"I think Uncle Sam's right, Dad. Maybe we shouldn't bring the gun," she shrugged. "I don't mean to vote against you though." Sarah looked down at her feet.

Dean watched her before turning back to his brother, placing the gun in the trunk. When both Sam and Sarah weren't looking, Dean slipped the Colt back into his jacket pocket and once they were ready, headed off in search for John once again.

Sarah had emptied out her clothes and books into the trunk and packed her duffel bag like her father had done. Only, Sarah included something that Dean did not have. When Sarah got the rest of her stuff back from her grandparents, she couldn't take everything and left the rest at Bobby's house, up in the spare bedroom. Sarah figured her super soaker gun would come in handy since it held a lot of water, filling it up with holy water. She carried her duffel bag over her right shoulder, behind her as they walked.

When they turned to the right, Dean figured out what Meg meant by sunrise. Over across the street was an apartment building with the name "Sunrise Apartments" on a sign in front and several children playing while mothers watched them. Realizing that demons could possess anyone and they wouldn't know who, the Winchesters started coming up with a plan to get inside. Sam agreed to pull the fire alarm to get everyone in the building outside and while Dean distracts a fireman, Sam would break into the truck.

"Hold up there," Sarah spoke up. "Remember, I'm still a kid."

Dean shrugged, "So?"

She held her arms out, halfway. "Meaning, I have a small size and I hardly doubt they'd let a little person become a firefighter. How am I supposed to get in there?"

"Crap," Dean said when he realized it, too.

Sam and Dean looked around, trying to come up with a new plan. Sarah looked over at the building when it hit her. "I got it," she told the men.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Keep your plan. When Dad distracts the firefighters, I'll make my way in by the fire escape."

Dean shook his head. "No, Sarah. You're going off by yourself."

"I'm not hearing you come up with anything, Dad," she pointed out. "Just give me a chance, okay? There's no way I'm just walking in there."

"It's out of the question, Sarah," he said, sternly.

"We don't have any other choice. If you want to save Grandpa, you have to let me do this on my own. I'm covered, trust me. I stocked up, too." Sarah patted her duffel bag behind her, a determined look on her face.

Dean looked away.

Sam squatted down to his niece's level, "It's too dangerous for you to do this, period much less on your own." Sarah looked over at her uncle to start arguing with him until he continued. "But, thinking about it, you're no ordinary kid are ya?"

Sarah raised her eyebrows at Sam. "Does this mean you agree?"

"I really want to agree with your dad and tell you, you can't do this, but you're right, we need to let you do this on your own."

Sarah looked over at her father again. "Dad?"

Dean let out a long breath. He did not want Sarah to go unprotected but it looked like they didn't have a choice in the matter and he reluctantly agreed, too.

Sam stood back up, straight and nodded down at his niece, "We'll see you inside, Peanut."

Sarah nodded in return and made to hurry over to the apartment building when Dean stopped her. "Hold on, baby girl. If anything happens or things start getting out of control, you run, got it? Don't try and be a hero. You sprint out of there as fast as you can. Like your grandfather, you're no good to us dead."

"I promise, Dad." Dean was expecting a hug from her but Sarah then took off, looking both ways before sprinting across the street. He watched her go as he realized his little girl was growing up. Dean felt a hand on his left shoulder and looked back at his brother as they shared the same look, thinking the same thing.

Sarah stopped running once she got to the opposite side of the street, stepping up onto the sidewalk and shoved her hands into her jeans pockets. She looked around, walking around a girl's jump rope game and continued around the corner.

Down the alley, she looked up at the fire escape. Sarah hid behind a dumpster as she heard the fire alarm go off and when the time was right, Sarah made her way up the steps of the fire escape, carefully. Every time she came to a window she would peak in, warily as not to get caught. Sarah could hear a fire truck pull up from around the corner and ducked if she thought one of the firefighters might be coming back there. She remembered back in kindergarten when a firefighter brought his truck and taught her class about fire safety and about all the procedures and equipment so she pretty much knew the drill of what to expect.

Once Sarah reached the fifth floor, she ducked over to the window and peeked in. Inside looked like the master bedroom of the apartment and over on the bed, sprawled out was her grandfather, unconscious. Making sure the coast was clear Sarah moved a milk crate under the window and quickly and quietly opened her duffel bag, taking out a knife. She then stood up on the crate and very carefully slipped the knife between the double window panes, lifting it up to unlock it, her tongue hanging out as she gently bit down, squeezing it between her teeth.

The latch finally unlocked and Sarah slipped the blade out before pushing on the panes without making a sound. Sarah then stepped off the crate and put the knife away, taking out her super soaker next, closing and slinging the duffel bag over her head. She then proceeded to climb through the window, carefully.

Inside, Sarah looked around the room. The bedroom door was open. Pressing herself against the wall beside it, she peeked around the door frame to see two persons sitting at the kitchen table. It had to have been demons.

Sarah took a deep breath, letting it out before she ran into the kitchen/living area. The couple jumped up, facing her. Their eyes flashed black as Sarah held up her super soaker and sprayed the demons with a waterfall of holy water, rapidly switching back and forth. She must have pumped the thing more than a dozen times when she was preparing for this.

The demons cried out as the water burned their skin. At that moment, two firefighters came bursting in the front door and wrestled the demons into a nearby closet. Sarah fished out a container of salt from her duffel bag and while her father and uncle held the door shut, she poured salt around the bottom of it.

Sam and Dean then stripped out of the firemen outfits and Sarah showed them where John was being kept.

Dean stopped dead in his tracks when he saw his father's unconscious body sprawled out on the bed. "Dad," he said as he walked over.

Sarah set her super soaker on the bed and climbed up to crawl over to her grandfather, putting her right ear to his chest. "There's a heartbeat," she said, "but something doesn't feel right."

Dean took out his pocket knife to cut him free, "He's alive, Sarah. That's all that matters."

"But Dad…" Sarah tried to argue with her father.

To be sure, Sam sprinkled holy water from a flask. Nothing happened.

"See? Nothing happened," Dean told his daughter as John stirred, lifting his head. It still did not ease Sarah's nerves, though. Something was up and she could sense it.

Dean and Sam lifted John up and half carried him towards the front door. However, they were met by two more demons in a firefighter and random guy meat suit. Sarah quickly gave a few pumps to her super soaker and held it up to them, drenching them as Sam and Dean pulled John out the window.

"Sarah!" Sam called once they were out on the fire escape.

Sarah turned and ran for the window, quickly climbing out before Sam poured salt along the sill and the Winchesters made their way down. Once their feet hit the ground, Sam was then ambushed by yet another demon who shoved him to the ground, repeatedly punching him in the face.

Sarah pumped her super soaker once more but when she tried to squirt it at the demon, only a few squirts came out not going very far. "Crap!" she exclaimed, trying to pump it again.

Suddenly, there was a loud gunshot and when she looked up the demon was dead on the pavement. Sarah looked over to see her father standing there, holding the Colt up as smoke was coming out of the barrel.

With no time to celebrate, Dean grabbed Sam up and helped him over to where he had placed John and his own duffel bag. He shoved the duffel bag at Sarah before lifting his father up, and he and Sam carried John all the way to where they had left the Impala and drove somewhere safe.

While Dean took care of his father, Sam and Sarah salted the doors and windows. Sarah still could not shake a feeling she had about her grandfather. A feeling that felt familiar.

Dean came out, wiping his hands on a rag.

"How is he, Dad?" Sarah asked, hurrying over to him.

"He's fine, just needs to rest." He sat down on the edge of a table. "You okay, baby girl?"

Sarah set the salt container on the table beside him. "Yeah, I'm okay. Are you?"

"Better now I know everyone else is okay." Dean looked over at Sam, "what about you, Sam?"

Sam stared out the window. "I'll survive." There was a moment of silence before he turned around. "Hey, you don't think we were followed, do you?"

"I don't know," Dean shrugged, "I don't think so. I mean, we couldn't have found a more out-of-the-way place to hole up."

Sam agreed and looked away for a second. "Hey, uh…" He licked his lips and took a deep breath. "Dean, you, um…" Sam exhaled. "You saved my life back there."

"So I guess you're glad I brought the gun, huh?"

"Man, I'm trying to thank you here," Sam told him, annoyed.

"You're welcome," Dean replied and looked down.

Sam stared at his brother before walking away.

Sarah looked up at her father as he stared off into space. She could see the hurt in his eyes and hugged him, resting her head against him. "I'm glad you brought the gun, Dad," she assured him. "You were right, this family is a lot more important than the stupid demon is."

Dean looked over at her. He moved his right hand and touched the back of his daughter's head, holding it to his leg. "Thanks, baby girl. I needed that after…"

Sarah looked up, not removing her arms from him, "After what?"

"After…" Dean stared at the floor again. "You know that guy I shot?"

She nodded.

"There was a person in there."

At that point, Sam turned around, listening. "You didn't have a choice, Dean," he told him.

Dean nodded, "Yeah, I know. That's not what bothers me."

"Then what's the matter?" Sarah asked, concerned for him.

"Killing that guy, killing Meg…" he shook his head. "I didn't hesitate. I didn't even flinch." Dean paused for a few seconds. "For you two and Dad…the things I'm willing to do or kill, it's just, uh... It scares me, sometimes."

John walked into the room. "It shouldn't," he told Dean, making him look up. "You did good."

Dean looked at him, confused. "You're not mad?" he asked.

John shook his head, "For what?"

"Using a bullet."

"Mad," said John. "I'm proud of you."

Dean couldn't believe that.

"You know, Sam and I…we can get pretty obsessed. But you… You…You watch out for this family. You always have."

Dean looked down at his daughter and over at his brother before turning back to his father, staring at him, sideways. "Thanks."

The lights then started flickering. John hurried over to the window as Dean stood up, straight. "It found us. It's here," said John, looking back at his boys.

"The demon," said Sam.

"Sam, lines of salt in front of every window, every door," he told him.

"Sarah and I already did it."

"Well, check it. Okay?" Sam went to recheck the salt lines as John looked out the window again. "Dean, you got the gun?"

"Yeah," he said, pulling his daughter behind him as he stared at his father.

"Give it to me."

"Dad, Sam tried to shoot the demon in Salvation, and it vanished," Dean explained as he took out the Colt from behind him.

"This is me," said John. "I won't miss. Now the gun, hurry."

Dean looked down at it in his hands.

"Don't do it, Dad. Don't give it to him," Sarah told her father, quietly.

"Hush, Sarah," John told his granddaughter. "Son, please."

Dean looked back up at his father and slowly backed away. Sarah did the same when she felt him back into her.

John stared at his first-born. "Give me the gun. What are you doing, Dean?"

"He'd be furious," said Dean.

"What?"

"That I wasted a bullet," he finished and shook his head. "He wouldn't be proud of me. He'd tear me a new one." Dean slowly raised the gun, cocking it. "You're not my dad."

"Dad, wait. You kill the demon possessing Grandpa, you kill him, too," Sarah reminded him.

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye then back at his father.

"Dean, it's me," John told him.

"I know my dad better than anyone," Dean said, "and you ain't him."

"What the hell's gotten into you two?" he asked.

Sarah looked up at her grandfather. "I knew I felt something familiar. I know who you are."

"I am your grandfather, that's who I am, Sarah."

But Sarah just shook her head at him.

At that point, Sam walked back in and stopped suddenly in his tracks, surprised to see the Colt out and pointing at his father. "Dean. What the hell's going on?"

"Your brother and niece's lost their minds," John told his youngest son.

"He's not Dad," Dean also told him.

Sam asked, "What?"

"He's possessed by the demon we've been looking for," Sarah explained.

"Are you sure?"

"I've had this feeling since we picked Grandpa up. One I recognized."

"Don't listen to them, Sammy," John tried to tell Sam.

"Dad's different, too," Dean added.

John was growing more annoyed. "We don't have time for this. Sam, you wanna kill this demon, you gotta trust me."

Sam looked between his father, and his brother and niece before he finally made a choice and walked behind Dean and Sarah.

John nodded at them in disbelief, "Fine. The three of you so sure? Go ahead. Kill me."

Sarah looked up at her father, watching him. She could see his arm that was holding the gun, shaking and knew he couldn't do it. Demon or not, it was still her grandfather in there and Sarah understood. She took his other hand in hers and rubbed it with her other hand, comfortingly.

John had looked down but when he came back up, his eyes were yellow. "I thought so," he said, evilly. Suddenly, the three of them were shot back and pinned to the wall, making Dean drop the Colt. John walked over and picked it up, looking at it. "What a pain in the ass this thing's been," and looked over at Sarah. "Good to see ya again, Sarah. We haven't spoken in person in over a year and a half."

Sarah glared back at her grandfather. "Get out of my grandpa, you piece of crap!" she ordered at the demon inside.

"I like this meat suit, actually. Think I'll keep it for a bit." The demon looked over at Sam next.

"We've been looking for you for a long time," Sam also glared at him.

"Well, you found me," the demon shrugged.

"But the holy water…"

"You think something like that works on something like me?" The demon pinned Sam even more where he couldn't move his head.

"I'm gonna kill you," Sam growled at the demon.

"Oh. That will be a neat trick," the demon sneered at him and set the Colt down on the table. "In fact…here. Make the gun float to you there, psychic boy." The room was silent as Sam stole a glance at the Colt then looked back at the demon. "You know, this is fun." The demon walked over to Sam. "I could have killed you a hundred times today, but this…" He exhaled, looking away from Sam and grinned, "This is worth the wait." The demon looked to the left at Sam, "Your dad…he's in here with me. Trapped inside his own meat suit. He says hi, by the way. He's gonna tear you apart. He's gonna taste the iron in your blood."

"Let him go," Dean threatened, "Or I swear to God…"

The demon was looking over at him, "What? What are you and God gonna do? You see, as far as I'm concerned…this is justice." He walked over to Dean, staring down at him. Sarah tried to break free more but wasn't successful at all. "You know that little exorcism of yours? That was my daughter. You know, like you have which you're welcome, by the way. The one in the alley…that was my boy." The demon was whispering so only Dean heard. "You understand?"

"You gotta be kidding me," Dean told him.

"What? You're the only one that can have a family? You destroyed my children. How would you feel if I killed your family?" The demon then grinned. "Oh. That's right. I forgot. I did. Still…" He held up two fingers, "Two wrongs don't make a right."

Dean curled his lip at the demon, "You son of a bitch."

"I wanna know why," Sam said over from his spot. "Why'd do it?"

The demon turned around to look back at Sam. "You mean, why did I kill mommy and pretty little Jess?"

"Yeah."

The demon grinned back at Dean and backed up. "You know, he never told you this, but…Sam was gonna ask her to marry him. Been shopping for rings and everything." John walked back to Sam and turned on his heel to face him. "You wanna know why? Because they got in the way."

Sam demanded, "In the way of what?"

"My plans for you, Sammy," he answered. "You…Sarah…and all the children like you."

"Listen," said Dean. "You mind just getting this over with 'cause I really can't stand the monologuing especially when we heard all this already."

The demon abruptly turned on Dean again. "Funny. But that's all part of your M.O., isn't it? Masks all that nasty pain." He walked over to him. "Masks the truth."

"Oh yeah," he told him. "What's that?"

"Bet Sarah didn't tell you this, but you fight and you fight for this family, but the truth is…they don't need you, especially Sarah. Not like you need them."

Sarah closed her eyes, looking away. She was hoping her father wouldn't have to hear that.

"Sam…" The demon continued. "He's clearly John's favorite. Even when they fight, it's more concern than he's ever shown you. And Sarah… Oh he loves Sarah. Adores her."

"Yeah, and I bet you're real proud of your kids, too, huh?" said Dean. "Oh, wait, I forgot. I wasted 'em."

The demon did not respond. He smirked, taking a step back and looked down. Suddenly, Dean felt a stabbing pain in his torso as the demon stared at him.

"Dean!" Sam called, making Sarah look up again. "No!"

Dean started bleeding as his insides felt like they were twisting around.

"Daddy!" Sarah cried out.

Sam and Dean started trying to get John to fight the demon but it wasn't any use. Sarah's chest was rapidly moving as her heart pumped as she watched her father in pain. That other familiar feeling started to rise and filled her emotions to record height.

"Daddy!" she yelled once more and the demon was sent flying back against the wall, releasing the three of them from the wall. Dean lost his balance from the pain and fell completely to the floor. Sarah quickly ran to his side, falling to her knees beside his side and saw just how much blood he was losing. Thinking fast, she ripped off her sweatshirt and balled it up, shoving it against her father's chest and torso area. "Hang in there, Daddy. It's gonna be okay."

While Sarah had ran over to take care of her father, Sam ran over to retrieve the Colt as he tripped over himself and stood over the demon, pointing it straight at him.

The demon sneered up at him, "You kill me… You kill Daddy."

Suddenly, John was able to break through. The yellow disappeared from his eyes. "Do it, Sam. Shoot me," he pleaded with his son.

Sarah looked back over her shoulder as she held her sweatshirt against her father. She could hear him also pleading with her uncle but to not shoot him. She looked away in fear that Sam may actually do it and tried to focus on her father. All the pleading catching in her ears felt painful to hear as tears ran down both sides of her face.

However, she wasn't expecting to hear the sound of the demon leaving her grandfather's body and flew up and then down into the floorboards.

While Sam loaded his brother and father into the Impala, Sarah carried Dean's duffel bag out there and climbed into the backseat beside her father and continued to hold her sweatshirt on his front.

Sam drove while John sat in the front seat, grunting. "Look, just hold on, all right? The hospital's only ten minutes away."

"I'm surprised at you, Sammy," John told him, looking forward. "Why didn't you kill it?" He looked over at his youngest son. "I thought we saw eye to eye on this. Killing this demon comes first. Before me, before everything."

Sarah looked over at her grandfather as she sat on her heels, "Not before family, it doesn't."

Sam glanced up at his brother in the rear-view mirror. "Look, we still got the Colt. We still have the one bullet left. We just have to start over, all right? I mean, we found the demon once…"

Out of nowhere, a semitruck smashed right into the passenger side of the Impala. Glass shattered as the whole thing was dented in as it was pushed sideways.


	44. Chapter 44

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 44

"Here comes the pitch." Dean winded up and tossed the baseball underhand. The ball flew over as Sarah held the baseball bat in position. When the ball was in close range, she swung at it and sent it right into the air. Dean and Sarah watched as it soared through the air until Sarah remembered and ran for first, then second, and then third as Dean cheered. Once her foot hit third base, Sarah headed for home and slid on her stomach. A cloud of dust stirred up.

Sarah stood up and looked over to her father, smiling. However, Dean was nowhere to be found. "Dad?" she asked, looking around. Sarah started to panic. "Dad," she said a little louder. "Dad!" Sarah ran all over the ball diamond but Dean was gone.

Suddenly, Sarah sat up in a hospital bed, "Dad!" She looked around and saw her grandparents and second cousin sitting around her bed.

Her grandmother was the first on her feet. "Oh, thank you, God," she said, thankful her granddaughter was awake. Beth wrapped her arms around Sarah, hugging her. "I thought we were going to lose you, angel."

But Sarah was looking everywhere but them. Her father, uncle, and grandfather was nowhere in sight. Was everything just a dream? Did she really go on a cross-country roadtrip with her father and uncle? And did she really fight monsters? It felt too vivid to be a dream.

"Where's my dad? Where's Uncle Sammy? Where's my grandpa?" she asked them.

Greg moved closer to her on Sarah's opposite side, "I'm right here, Sarah. Don't worry. And it's Papa, remember?" he assured her, his hand on her shoulder.

Sarah looked up at her grandfather. "Not you, I mean my other grandfather. Are they okay? Is my dad okay?" She was growing more and more hysterical as her heart thumped more.

"Sweetheart, you need to calm down. What's important is you, right now," said Greg.

"What's important is finding out if they're all okay," Sarah exclaimed. "Is my dad alive? Where's my uncle and grandpa? Somebody please tell me what happened?"

Beth tried to calm her down before she said, "You were all in a car accident, angel. They called your papa since he was never removed as your emergency contact person. The doctor says your shoulder was yanked from its socket."

Sarah looked down at her left arm. She had not noticed there was a splint covering her left shoulder, holding it in place.

"You also hit your head and suffered a very mild concussion but thankfully it wasn't serious."

"How did my arm rip out of its socket in a car crash?" Sarah questioned.

"The doctor says it looks like it was pulled and the fact that you were found lying across your father, my guess would be he instantly grabbed your arm out of reflex when the truck hit," Greg guessed.

"Oh, what do you know," Mark finally spoke up in a sarcastic voice, "the bastard finally did something right for a change."

Sarah shot her second cousin a death glare. "Go to hell, Mark," she told him.

The adults were surprised to hear that come out of the little girl's mouth, towards someone. "Sarah Lynn, you do not talk that way to an adult," Greg scolded her, more stern than Dean usually scolds her.

She shot him a glare next, "I don't care right now!" Her voice rose. "I want to know if they are alive! Can someone just fuckin' tell me?!" Sarah's anger was rising too as her cheeks felt hot. In fact the lights on the ceiling were starting to flicker.

Greg told his wife to go find a nurse to bring up any of the Winchesters who was awake before he turned back to his granddaughter. "Young lady, I don't know what you get away with from your father but you _do not_ raise your voice or curse. Do you understand me?"

Sarah did not back down as years of holding back feelings finally came out. "Like I said, I couldn't give a crap right now. All I care about is that my family is okay."

"We're your family, too, Sarah," Mark reminded her.

"Family?" Sarah turned on him again. "You people thought I was a burden! I've heard you talk. I heard what you all say about me. Good, Christian people my ass! Yeah, you may not of taken it out on me but words still hurt. My dad never thought of me as a burden, he never felt he _had _to love me like he was forced. No, Dad loved me because I was his baby girl which he calls me more than my name now." She turned her head back to Greg, "As for my grandfather, I told him he was my favorite grandfather." Tears were pouring from her eyes as she finally told her grandfather how she felt. Sure, her grandfather and the rest of the Holden family loved her but not like the Winchester side. "You know why? Because he loves me for who I am. I've only known Grandpa for less than a week but we have had a lot better good time than I've ever had with you. He's willing to get close to me where as you'd rather pay for me to see a doctor and take medication."

Greg was starting to get angry himself how his granddaughter could talk to him like that. How she could feel that way. Out of nowhere, he slapped her across the face right as Beth returned with a male nurse pushing John in a wheelchair. Sarah stared up at Greg, surprised until she noticed her other grandfather was there and quickly threw back the covers and scooted over to the edge, sliding down from the bed and hurried over to John, jumping into his lap. She wrapped her right arm around his neck, crying into it.

John quietly tried to settle her down. "Shh, shh. It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay. I'm here, I got ya," he said, hugging her with his left arm since the other one was in a sling.

Greg stood in the same spot, watching the two of them. "Sarah, honey, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

"Just leave me alone," her cries muffled a little from her grandfather's neck.

John was glaring up at him like his granddaughter had done before he told the nurse to push him back to his son's hospital room. The nurse than pulled him back out of the room and wheeled John back down where they had come. Sarah stayed on his lap the whole way there.

"Is Daddy and Uncle Sammy okay, Grandpa?" she sniffed.

"Your uncle is fine, just bruised up, is all. I sent him to meet up with Bobby to tow the car back to his place," John explained.

"What about my dad?"

John couldn't respond, and stared at the floor.

Sarah lifted her head to look at him. "My dad…he did make it, right?"

John looked up at her, "He's still holding on but…The doctor says the chances of him surviving…"

Sarah stared back at her grandfather. "No. No, he can't die. My dad can't die, he just can't." She dropped her head on his collarbone this time and cried into it. "I promised Dad I would protect him. I failed. I failed."

John rubbed her back. "It's not your fault, Sarah. I can promise you that," he assured her. "There was nothing you could have done. You're just a kid."

"I can't lose him, Grandpa. Daddy was the first to believe in me when no one else did and love me for who I am. Daddy has always been there for me the past year."

John sat there and listened to his granddaughter, her cries for her father tore at his heart. He had to do something for his son, not just for his and Sam's sake, but for Sarah's sake, especially. John wasn't about to let his granddaughter grow up an orphan.

They finally arrived back on the floor where Dean's room was on. When Sarah looked over and saw her father lying there, unconscious and with a tube sticking his mouth, she quickly slid off her grandfather's lap and hurried over to his side.

"Dad? Can you hear me?" Sarah tried.

There was no response of course.

Tears built up in her eyes once more and fell down her cheeks. Sarah reached over to touch Dean's right, upper arm and closed her eyes. "God, it's me, Sarah Winchester. God, please don't take Dad like you took Mom." Sarah dropped her head, face-first onto the bed beside where Dean lay. Her tears soaked the sheets as she continued. "I can't lose him. He's not just my dad, he's my best friend. Dad's the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Even when life is one big pile of crap, I know everything will be okay because he'll always be there for me. So please, God. Don't take him away."

The room grew quiet except for Sarah's sniffles and the machine Dean was hooked up to. John sat there, behind his granddaughter, listening. After a while, Sarah walked around and climbed up onto the bed next to her father as she lied against him, careful not to pull out any of the tubes that were attached to him and started to sing the song from _Dumbo_, changing the word "baby" to "daddy" until she fell back to sleep. Unknown to her was a presence standing beside the bed, listening.

John just sat back and watched the whole thing, wishing Sam would hurry soon so he could get what he had planned over with and Sarah could have her father back. He was so far into thought John did not hear Greg walk up and lean against the door frame, crossing his arms across his chest.

"My wife used to sing that to our girls when they were young and sang it to Sarah when she stayed with us," he spoke up, making John look back at him. Greg looked over down the hall for a moment then returned his attention to John. "I really didn't mean to hit her," he shrugged. "I never thought Sarah felt that way. Being a grandfather to a very gifted child isn't easy, you know?"

"Gifted or not, the fact is, Sarah is still a kid," John told him, coldly, turning the chair so he could look at him. "There is no excuse for hitting her."

He shrugged, "And you're right. I do love her though."

John looked back at his granddaughter. "She's a pretty good kid, huh? Got lots of Winchester traits in her."

"Was her father ever obsessed with the supernatural?" Greg asked.

John looked back at the man and shook his head, "Why?"

"Up until she turned five, Sarah was the most terrified kid you would ever meet. She'd jump at her own shadow," he explained. "Then one day out of the blue, we caught her reading about monsters and how to hunt them. It wasn't normal, especially for a small child." Greg shrugged, "It's like she got brave overnight and frankly, it scared us."

John stayed silent as he was trying to figure out how Sarah could have suddenly taken an interest in the supernatural and how to hunt them, and at age five. Is their family's curse that strong to affect someone who was growing up away from all that? No wonder Dean took his daughter along, Sarah was already involved and Dean knew he had to finish what was already started.

"Have to say though, Sarah has never yelled at me like that. Argued with me maybe but she never got that angry."

John finally spoke again. "She has mine and her uncle's temperament. You get us pissed enough…" he told him. "We're stubborn, too."

Greg smiled at that. "Yeah, that sounds like Sarah."

Both men laughed at that.

"She's mostly like her dad," John said. "In fact, she reminds me a lot of him at that age. The way she shadows him, assuring everything will be okay." He looked down at the floor.

"That kid grows up way too fast," Greg shrugged, staring at the floor as well. "She acts so much older than what she really is. My nephew was her best friend. I really hate to admit this but at one point, I wished something would happen where she'd lose some of those brain cells and just be a normal kid."

The presence that stood near Sarah was listening to the men and wouldn't you know it, it was Dean himself. Dean couldn't believe some of the things Greg was saying. He already wanted to punch the man's face in when he heard Greg had hit his daughter.

"Why can't you people just accept the poor kid?" he was snarling at Greg and turned to his own father. "How can you just sit there and let him talk about her like that, Dad?" No one could hear Dean since he was just a spirit in limbo.

After a while, Greg decided to head back to his granddaughter's hospital room back on the pediatric floor to wait until Sarah woke up, leaving John alone to his thoughts.

Dean stood there staring at him. "Come on, Dad," he told him "you gotta help me. I gotta get better. I gotta get back in there. Sarah needs me." Dean paused as he watched John just sit there, watching his limp form. "I mean, you haven't called a soul for help. You haven't even tried. Don't you see how much this is hurting Sarah? Aren't you going to do anything? That guy's been gone for a while, aren't you even gonna say anything?" His tone rose a little in frustration but John just sat there, doing nothing. "I've done everything you ever asked me. Everything. I have given everything I've ever had. And you're just gonna sit there and watch me die and let your only granddaughter become a friggin' orphan? What the hell kind of father are you?"

Suddenly, Dean heard a noise and went to check it out right as Sarah had lifted her head, half asleep. She looked over at her father's lifeless face then over at her grandfather, sitting up.

"Grandpa, did you say something?" she asked him.

John looked over at her and shook his head, "No, I've just been sitting here, quietly. "How ya feelin'?"

"Wishing Dad could wake up." She looked back at her father. "I wish I had Chimchar here with me."

"Who's Chimchar?" John asked.

"He's a Pokémon on TV, I got him for Christmas before my mom died. Can a stuffed animal survive a car accident in one piece?" Sarah asked her grandfather.

He only shrugged, "I don't know, sweetheart. I guess it depends on where you had it when it happened."

Sarah thought about it, remembering when she had him last. "He should be in the backseat in the Impala."

"It might have gotten thrown out the window when the truck hit."

Sarah looked alarmed to hear that possibility. "I hope not."

John looked at his granddaughter, "If you had a choice of who you could have back, your toy or your dad, who would you choose?" he asked, serious.

She stared back at him. "My dad, of course. What kind of question is that?"

He shrugged, "Just wondering."

Beth walked in the room next. "How are you feeling, angel?" she asked, making John and Sarah look up at her.

Sarah looked back at her father. "Fine. Just want my dad to wake up."

"You love him, don't you?" she smiled, walking over to Sarah's side of the bed.

"More than anything else in the entire world," Sarah replied.

Beth placed her hand on Sarah's upper back, watching Dean. She could see a lot of her granddaughter in him. "Angel, we've been discussing about it and we figured it'll be best if you come with us. Mark is still welcoming you into his home and you can see that fellow who brought you to our house whenever you want since Mark lives in Sioux Falls now."

Sarah twisted her waist to look up at her grandmother. "I'm not living with Mark. Even if Dad doesn't make it, I still have my uncle Sam and Grandpa. And we still have a job to do. Don't you get it? I don't want any part of any of you."

"Sarah, that really hurts our feelings, especially after all we've done for you."

"Not as much as I felt." Sarah let out a deep breath. "But my throat hurts from yelling so much and I have no energy left to argue. Can you all just go home?"

Beth looked at her before she left the room. It wasn't long before Greg returned.

"Sarah, I'm sorry if you feel like we never loved you but if you want us to leave then don't expect us to come back. It was a long drive to get down here."

Sarah paid her grandfather no attention. She laid her head down on her father's stomach, wanting him to just leave.

Greg stood there, watching her. In a calm voice he told her, "Sarah, I'm sorry. Please don't shut us out. We're still your family, too."

She didn't even lift her head.

"Just leave the kid alone," John told him. "She's been through a lot the past week. Sarah's just hurt and confused."

"Fine," he shrugged and turned back to Sarah. "Call us later, Sarah. Your uncle has our number." With that, Greg left the room for the final time, stealing one last glance at his granddaughter who didn't even lift her head to say good-bye.


	45. Chapter 45

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 45

Sarah lied there, beside her father. John had returned to his own hospital room when Sarah asked to be alone. For a couple hours now, Sarah just lied there, thinking. Finally, she spoke as if Dean could hear.

"Remember when we first met, Dad? You didn't seem like you liked me at all," she was saying as if Dean could hear. "Then we went on my first hunt and I got taken by those skinwalkers. But I think it was before that. I saw how proud of me you were when you first trained me and I shot all those targets. And you were so intent on me talking with you even though I wasn't ready to share what I was hiding. Truth is, I've been passed off and unbelieved by so many others, I didn't think you would either."

Sarah sat up and turned around to face her father, having some difficulty having her shoulder in a splint. "I never thought Uncle Sam counted because he didn't need to believe or not since he was having nightmares, too. But when you told that kid, Lucas that you would believe him, I just knew it at that point. I'm not mad that you were skeptic on it because it does sound pretty weird because I could tell that you wanted to for me."

"I…I used to dream at night of who my dad could be. Mom told me eventually after I kept bugging her about it." Sarah shrugged one shoulder. "She seemed like she hated you and that's when I learned I looked like you. She says I reminded her of you. I didn't know whether to be excited or upset. I asked if you knew about me, would you like me. Mom said that you didn't care about anyone but Grandpa and Uncle Sam." Sarah forced a grin, "Guess she was wrong, huh? 'Cause you do love me, too," and gave a short chuckle until her smile faded away. She looked down at the bedsheet in front of her. "I always kept hoping and praying that one day you would find out about me and that day when I saw you standing there in Papa's house and Papa said you were my dad, it made it the happiest day of my life. I hoped you would take me with you and you did even though it would be dangerous for me. Guess the demon did something right 'cause if it weren't for him, I don't know where I'd be right now. Mom might still be alive but I would still be miserable."

"Sometimes, I wish I wasn't so smart. Tell ya the truth, that's probably why I can't relate to other kids. Mom told me my first complete sentence was when I was two. What two-year-old can speak a complete sentence? I'll tell you. None. Sometimes I do want to be normal but then I probably wouldn't be able to hunt."

Sarah looked back up. "I really wish you could hear me, Dad. Don't worry about what that demon said, I do need you. I mean, who's gonna tease me? Who's gonna sing along with me? Who's gonna pick on Uncle Sammy with me?" Tears filled her eyes again. "Who's gonna call me, baby girl? Who's gonna watch cartoons with me? You can't die, Dad. Please hang in there. You have to get better, Dad." Sarah pinned her chin to her chest and cried the hardest she had ever cried until her father's heart monitor started beeping, quickly and loudly. Thinking that can't be a good sign, she slid off the bed and ran outside, looking down both sides of the halls. "Help! It's my dad! He needs a doctor in here!"

Several nurses and doctors came running in, pushing past Sarah, who also didn't let her back in. Sprinting fast, she hurried to her grandfather's hospital room, using the door frame to stop. Her uncle was standing there with John sitting up in bed. "Grandpa! Uncle Sam! Come quick! Something's wrong with Dad!" she told them, scared out of her mind.

Sam hurried past his niece, who followed after him back to Dean's hospital room where the doctors and nurses were surrounding his bed, shocking him with a fibrillator as they tried to find a pulse.

Sam hugged the door frame, hoping Dean would pull through. His chest moved rapidly. It felt like he couldn't breathe. His brother had to pull through. Sam couldn't lose him. Not yet. Sam needed his big brother there.

Sarah stood there beside her uncle as tears poured down her cheeks like a waterfall as she bit down on her lower lip. She was biting down so hard she was starting to taste blood. Sarah quickly looked away, hiding her face in Sam's leg. Sam hadn't even noticed she did, either. He was too focused on his brother.

When the fibrillator wasn't working, the doctor switched to CPR, pushing on Dean's bare chest. Both Sam and Sarah were growing more and more hysteric as they hoped and prayed to themselves that Dean would pull through until a loud voice got their attention, looking in opposite directions.

"Dad?" Sarah questioned. Not long after that, the monitor returned to the normal, calm beeping and the doctor announced that they had a pulse. Sarah's breathing creased and hugged her uncle once more. This time, he noticed and squatted down to wrap his arms around her waist instead of lifting her under her arms and both shared a hug of relief. A relief that Dean made it through that episode and relief that each other was okay.

Both of them stopped though when they thought they heard a voice talking to them.

"Do you think Dad is walking around as a ghost, Uncle Sam?" Sarah asked.

"Maybe, Peanut," he replied. "How do you feel, by the way? The doctor says you had a small concussion there? How's your head feel?"

"It hurts a little but it's okay," she told him. "What about you?"

"A little sore but I'm glad to see you're okay, Peanut. I was worried about you." Sam hugged his niece to him again. He was so thankful Sarah made it through all that. She had been on his mind the whole time he was gone. Like his brother, Sam couldn't bear the thought of losing his niece, too. "Hey, I brought you someone."

"Who?"

Sam carried her back to his father's hospital room and went over to where the duffel bag was sitting on the foot of the bed, opening it up with one hand. He then pulled out Sarah's stuffed monkey Pokémon.

Sarah's eyes widened as she lit up in utter happiness. "Chimchar!" she exclaimed, happily and took it from her uncle, hugging it in her right arm. "Thank you, Uncle Sammy."

Sam kissed her cheek. "You're welcome, Peanut." He pulled out something else next. "Your PSP made it out as well since it was on the driver's side, lodged underneath the seat," Sam explained, placing it in her left hand.

Sarah hugged her uncle again. "What about my other toys?" she asked.

He shrugged, "There's a lot thrown everywhere in the car, but I think you may have lost some. At least Chimchar is safe, huh?"

She nodded.

John finally spoke up after being silence, letting uncle and niece talk first, "How's Dean doing now?"

"They managed to get a pulse going again," Sam looked over at his father. "Everything seems sable now."

"Tell Grandpa about hearing Dad's voice, Uncle Sam," Sarah urged her uncle.

"What do you mean you heard your father's voice, sweetheart?" John questioned, confused.

Sarah shrugged, "I can hear spirits. Back in Lawrence, I was able to hear Grandma in your old house and I swear I heard Dad yell, get back and then I heard him telling us that he was after some kind of spirit that he could grab."

"That's right, I forgot you can hear spirits," Sam remembered, suddenly. "Can you hear your dad now? Is he in this room?"

Sarah looked down at the floor, trying to hear anything. "No, but why is there water on the floor?"

"We were wondering that ourselves, Peanut. Let us know when you hear your dad again. Okay?"

Sarah nodded at her uncle. "Uncle Sam, I'm hungry."

Sam couldn't help but smile, "I see your appetite is still intact. Come on, let's go get something from the cafeteria."

"Ew, no. I've had hospital food before. Can I have a burger and fries from somewhere else?" she asked, trying to butter him up with a puppy-dog look.

"How about a salad?" he suggested.

"What do I look like? A rabbit?"

"Fine, Dean Jr., I will go get you a burger," Sam gave in. "You're lucky you're cute, by the way."

Sarah grinned, receiving a series of kisses on her cheek before her uncle put her down on her feet.

"Want anything, Dad?" Sam asked his father.

"No, thanks," he replied and Sam started to walk out of the room. "Wait, Sam." Sam stopped to look back. "I promise, I won't hunt this demon. Not until we know Dean's okay."

Sam nodded and walked away.

"I'm gonna go sit with Dad again," Sarah told her grandfather.

"Wait, Sarah," John stopped her as well. "Come here. I want to talk with you."

Sarah went over and climbed on his bed as John scooted over to give her some room, inviting her to sit beside him. Sarah basically had to frog-leap over before climbing over him to sit next to her grandfather, who put his arm around her.

"I wanted to let you know how proud I am, especially back on that vampire hunt. I never expected just how mature you acted. When you chopped that vamp's head off, you did it without a smile. I never saw you mess around or anything," he told her.

"Dad would beat my ass if I played around with a weapon," she said.

"That's good to hear, but I'm still proud. You did good, sweetheart."

Sarah looked up at her grandfather, holding her monkey beside her, in her right arm, between them. "Papa never told me he was proud of me before," she shook her head.

"Sounds to me like those people don't know the real meaning of what family is," and John smiled down at her.

She smiled in return and laid her head against him. "You're the best grandpa in the whole world."

John smiled down at her, hugging her head to him. "Always remember this, sweetheart. I love you and I will always love you, no matter what."

"I love you, too, Grandpa," Sarah replied, looking up at him. "I can't wait until we go on more hunts, together. I like riding shotgun with you. With the four of us together, we can evenly split up. One time I can go with you while other times I can go with Dad and then once we figure out what we're dealing with, we can all kill it together. Then when we find the demon again, we can all gang up on it and take it down. He won't even know what hit him, right, Grandpa? 'Cause Dad's gonna get better. I have to keep telling myself that, right?"

John took a silent breath. "Right, kiddo. Your dad's strong, he'll hang on."

"I'm so thankful for my family," she smiled.

He smiled back at her, "Same here." John hugged her one last time and kissed the top of her head before sending her back to her father's room. He watched her go, his heart breaking. John knew he was going to break her heart what he was planning on doing to help her father. The kid needed her father lot more than she needed him, though.

Sarah pulled herself up onto the edge of the bed and looked at her father. She then looked around the room, "Dad, can you hear me? Say something. Anything. I might be able to hear you, remember?"

No reply came.

Sarah looked at the floor. "Please, Dad. I know you're there, just talk to me."

_I'm here, baby girl. Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere._

Sarah shot her head up, looking around. "Dad? Is that you?"

There was a pause before she heard, _Yeah, it's Dad. Can you hear me, Sarah?_

Sarah slid down from the bed, using the sound of her father's voice to hear where he was. "Remember back in Lawrence?" she reminded him.

_That's right! Baby girl, listen to me. There's a reaper loose in the hospital._

Sarah raised her eyebrows, "A reaper? It's not after you, is it?" Another pause which Sarah took as an answer. She knew her father well enough. "Dad…" She looked at the floor. "If it's here naturally then there's nothing we can do." Sarah just stood there, staring at the floor. She thought she was going to cry again but there just weren't any tears yet.

She sniffed in through her nose. "I wish this was like Zelda and all I had to do was release a fairy from a bottle and you'd be healed. But this is real life, not a video game."

_I know, baby girl. Trust me. I don't want to leave either. You and Sam are my responsibility. I'm supposed to watch out for you both. It's my job. _Sarah could tell her father's voice was cracking.

"Guess this is like before only now there's no healer. I wouldn't want anyone to die in your place anyway. It wouldn't be fair to them." Sarah looked back at her father's body when it hit her. "Maybe Grandpa will know what to do." Sarah hurried back to her grandfather's room to see it was empty. The hospital pajamas he had been wearing were lying there on the bed as Sarah walked over to there, slowly. "He left again…" She placed her right hand on the bed, leaving it there as she closed her eyes. "Maybe Uncle…" Sarah opened her eyes, slowly and noticed her grandfather's journal right there on the bed. Pulling it towards her, she opened the journal and flipped through it until she came to a part about reapers and read through it.

_Thanks for not giving up on me, baby girl._

"That's what family's for," she said, her eyes not leaving the page before she continued reading.

_Son of a bitch!_

Sarah looked back, not really sure where to look. "What, Dad?"

There was no response that time.

"Dad? You there? Dad?" Sarah kept trying to listen for her father's spirit but there was just no response. It was now freaking the little girl out. "Oh God. I hope I'm not too late. What is taking Uncle Sam so long?"

Sarah slammed the journal shut, wishing she had her book with her at the moment. She remembered a chapter about reapers in there somewhere. Sarah decided to head back to her father's room and just sat on the edge of the bed, facing the door.

"I couldn't find anything in Grandpa's journal but I guess you did. It didn't sound good though. Hope everything's okay."

At that moment, Sam walked in. "Hey, Peanut. Where's your grandfather?" he asked her.

Sarah shrugged one shoulder, "Who knows. I think he left. He changed back into his clothes."

Sam handed his niece a regular sized paper cup from Jack-in-the-box. "Did you hear anything from your dad yet?"

She nodded. "Dad's hunting a reaper," she told him, looking up at her uncle. "I tried to find something in Grandpa's journal but I didn't see anything. Obviously, Dad did though but not in a good way, it sounded like." Sarah took a drink of her soda, setting it between her legs.

Sam handed her the paper bag of food before heading back to John's room to grab the journal, bringing it back. He looked through it himself but didn't find anything. He stood on his brother's other side, thinking.

"Dean, are you here?" he asked after a while, looking around the room.

"I tried already, he haven't said anything since I read through Grandpa's journal," said Sarah, focusing on the French fries for now. The bag was on the bed beside her. "I wish we knew how to help him."

Sam had his hands on his ribs. "Me, too, Peanut."

They stayed silent before Sam spoke again. "Hang in there, Dean. We'll figure something out. You have to hold on, all right?" He forced a small snicker, "Come on, you can't…You can't leave the two of here with Dad. We'll all kill each other. You know that."

Sarah couldn't help smile at the floor as she held a fry up to her mouth. It was so true, too. She heard Sam suck in some heavy air.

"Dean, you gotta hold on," he said. "You can't go, man. Not now." Sam was breathing heavy, constantly, by now. "We were just starting to be brothers again." To Sarah, "Can he hear me, Peanut?"

Sarah listened for any sound of her father's voice. It was dead quiet. She shook her head and dropped it, not eating any more. Sam dropped his as well.

After a moment, Sarah broke the silence, singing the _Dumbo _song again.

"That was beautiful, Peanut," Sam told her, quietly when she finished.

"Thanks," was all she replied.

Suddenly, Dean woke up, choking, surprising the two of them.

Sarah dropped her fries and the drink on the floor, getting up onto her knees, leaning on her right arm. "Dad?"

Sam quickly screamed for help. Doctors and nurses came running in, kicking him and Sarah out. They stood there, still in shock, waiting. Sarah was squeezing her uncle's hand in hers, praying in her head.


	46. Chapter 46

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 46

After tests were ran, Sam and Sarah were allowed back in Dean's room the next morning. Both of them barely slept at all and John still hadn't turned up.

The doctor was going through his chart. "I can't explain it," he was telling Dean. "The edema's vanished, the internal contusions are healed. Your vitals are good. You gotta have some kind of angel watching over you." He closed his chart.

Dean thanked him before the doctor left them alone. The doctor wasn't even out the door yet before Sarah was climbing onto the bed and jumped on her father, hugging his neck.

"Dude, my insides may be healed but I am still sore, you know," he told her but hugged her anyway before turning to Sam. "You said a reaper was after me?"

"That's what Sarah said," Sam shrugged. "She was the one talking to you."

"Sarah, how did I ditch it?" he asked, turning back to his daughter.

Sarah looked at her father. "I don't know. I was reading Grandpa's journal when you said, son of a…"

"Don't finish that phase. I got it," he told her.

"Dean, you really don't remember anything?" Sam asked.

Dean shook his head, "No. Except this pit in my stomach." He looked up at his brother, "Sam, something's wrong."

A knock on the door turned their heads to see John standing there. "How you feeling, dude?" he asked Dean.

"Fine, I guess," Dean replied with a small smile. "I'm alive."

"That's what matters."

"Where were you last night?" Sam asked of his father.

John was leaning against the door frame. "I had some things to take care of."

"Well, that's specific," he said, sarcastically.

Sarah was sitting on Dean's right side by now. "Can you not do this, right now, Uncle Sam?" she told her uncle. "Dad just got better and everyone's okay now."

"Sarah's right, Sam." John shook his head. "I mean, half the time I don't even know why we're fighting. We're just butting heads. Sammy, I've…I've made some mistakes. But I've always done the best I could. I just don't want to fight anymore, okay?"

"Dad, are you all right?" Sam asked.

John forced a smile, "Yeah. I'm just a little tired. Hey Sammy, would you mind…? Do you mind getting me a cup of caffeine?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, sure," and walked out of the room.

John was watching him go.

"What is it?" asked Dean.

John looked down, "You know, when you were a kid…" he looked at Dean. "I'd come home from a hunt. And after what I've seen…I've be… I've be wreaked."

Dean looked down at his daughter for a second then looked back up at his father.

"And you….You'd come up to me…you'd put your hand on my shoulder, and you look me in the eye, you…" John looked away, swallowing a lump in his throat and nodded before looking back. "You'd say, 'it's okay, Dad.'"

Sarah had been listening, too. She looked at her father then back at her grandfather. That was exactly what she told her own father.

"Dean," John continued, "I'm sorry."

"What?" Dean asked.

"You shouldn't have to say that to me. I should've been saying that to you." John looked down at his granddaughter. "You shouldn't have to say that, either, Sarah. I've listened and noticed so many similarities of the two of you, of your dad and me. I've put…I put too much on your dad's shoulders. I made him grow up too fast and that's exactly what's happening to you."

He switched back to Dean, "You took care of Sammy, you took care of me. Now, you're taking care of your own kid. And you didn't complain then, and I haven't heard you complain the past week either. Not once."

Dean switched arms and wrapped the one he had across his stomach, around Sarah as John stared at the floor, at his feet.

"I just want you to know…" A tear ran down the side of John's nose as he looked at his oldest son. "…That I am so proud of you." His lower lip quivered as he sniffed in, through his nose.

Dean looked up from his daughter, "This really you talking?"

He nodded, "Yeah." John smiled. "Yeah, it's really me."

Sarah had been trying to figure out why her grandfather was crying so much. It seemed like he was saying good-bye or something. Finally, she had to ask. "Grandpa, what's wrong?"

John forced a smile for her, "Nothing's wrong, sweetheart."

"But you're crying. I haven't seen you cry yet?"

John reached down and kissed the top of her head. "Promise me something, kiddo."

"What?" she asked.

"Don't grow up too fast. Just because you're a hunter, doesn't mean you should always act grown up. Enjoy what you can, okay?"

Sarah nodded as Dean said, "Dad, you're scaring me."

"Me, too," she agreed.

John shook his head, "Don't be scared," and placed a hand on Dean's shoulder. "I want you to watch out for Sammy too, okay?"

"Yeah, Dad, you know I will," Dean told him.

John then leaned over and whispered into Dean's left ear, keeping it down so Sarah couldn't hear. Dean moved his head back in surprise of what his father was telling him. Sarah hated she couldn't hear anything.

John stood back up, another tear on his face as he shared a long look with his son. When Dean looked away, John turned and walked out of the room.

Sarah quickly looked between the men. What did Grandpa say, Dad?" she asked.

Dean grabbed her around the head and held her close, his eyes shut. "It's nothing, Sarah. Don't worry about it."

Sarah pulled away and saw her father was crying himself. Moving as fast as she could, she scooted closer to the edge and leaped down, running out the room, after her grandfather. What she saw would haunt her for a long time.

There inside John's hospital room with him was the demon, who sneered at her, making John look back. "Shit," he said. "Sarah."

Sarah stood there, horror on her face and her lower lip starting to quiver. "Grandpa…what…what's going on?"

John was then brought to his knees as he felt a pain inside of him.

Sarah hurried over to him. "Grandpa? What's happening? Why is the demon here?"

"Sarah…" he tried to get out. "I didn't…I didn't want any of you… t-to see this. Do not tell anyone…got it? This is our se…" John fell forward, beside where Sarah stood.

She fell on her knees, touching her grandfather's left shoulder. Sarah looked back over her right shoulder to see the demon wink at her before he disappeared and turned back to him. "Grandpa?"

There was no response. "Grandpa!" The tears she thought were all gone were now pouring again. She looked up at the doorway and screamed for help. Thankfully, Sam was walking back, holding the cup of coffee in his hand. When he heard his niece yell for help, he hurried up to see what was going on and saw them, dropping the coffee onto the floor which spilled everywhere as he ran inside.

"What happened?" he asked her.

Sarah shook her head. "I don't know," she cried, pitifully.

Sam screamed for help as well. Once the doctors and nurses were there, Sam went and got Dean, bringing him back. The nurse tried to push them out of the room but Dean told her that John was their father.

They watched as the doctors and nurses tried to do all they could to save John. But there was nothing they could do and the head doctor decided to call the time of death.

Sarah stood there, watching as they worked on her grandfather. Her chest was moving, rapidly as she breathed hard to herself. Tears continued to pour down both sides of her face. When the doctor announced the time of death, she backed out of the room until she hit the far wall, shaking her head.

"No, no, no. No. This can't be happening. This just can't…" Sarah broke down harder and turned on the wall, hitting her forehead to it, gently. She banged on the wall, repeatedly with the side of her fist getting her father and uncle's attention.

Dean, seeing his daughter in pain, pushed away from Sam and limped over, falling to his knees beside her. He then pulled Sarah into his arms. Sarah wrapped her good arm around his neck as they held their heads against each other for a long time.

For the whole day, neither Dean nor Sarah barely said anything. Sam tried getting them to talk at first, especially since Sarah was there but she just wouldn't open her mouth. She sat in the backseat of Bobby's car, hugging her monkey to her as she leaned against her father.

While at Bobby's house, the Winchesters had a traditional hunter's funeral for John, salting and burning his body. Both Dean and Sarah stood there, staring into the fire, barely even blinking. Sarah didn't even feel bothered that much by the cold, night air against her arms. Her sweatshirt was pretty much unwearable now.

Sam was the only one who wasn't a statue. "Before he…" He had given up with his niece and tried to get anything from his brother. Anything that may make this any clearer. "Before he…" Sam was finding it hard to speak. He couldn't believe his father was gone for good. John wasn't MIA this time. He was dead. "Did he say anything to you?"

Dean looked over at his brother out of the corner of his eye.

"About anything?"

He looked back into the fire. "No."

Sam looked over at his brother.

"Nothing," Dean finished.

Over the next week, Dean fixed the Impala, teaching his daughter how to rebuild a car. All they ever brought up was something car-related. That was it. Sam tried to get them to talk, and even Bobby tried. Neither of them would, not even to each other. Sarah wouldn't even touch her PSP. From morning to evening, until they went to bed, all that got their attention was the Impala.

Sam stood at the window inside Bobby's house, watching his brother and niece work on the car when Bobby came up beside him.

"Still out there?" the older hunter asked, knowing the answer already.

Sam sighed, "Yeah."

"Well, we tried all we can, Sam. All we can do is wait until they're ready."

"I know my brother," Sam told him. "He's not gonna talk on his own. And with Sarah, she's gonna shadow whatever he's doing."

Bobby shrugged, "She's a kid. There's still hope for her."

Sam just shook his head. "You don't know how stubborn Sarah can be." After a while, Sam decided to head out there, maybe talk to Dean about what he had found on one of their father's cell phones.

Dean was underneath the car, on a creeper, loosening a part. Sarah sat on her legs, beside where his legs was sticking out, watching and listening when Dean explained what he was doing. The stereo was on, playing rock music.

"How's this car coming along?" Sam asked.

"Slow," Dean told him, continuing.

Sam looked back, behind him and returned to looking down at his brother, "Yeah. Need any help?"

He let the part fall, beside him with a loud noise. "What, you under a hood? I'll pass." Dean then pushed himself out from under the car.

"Need anything else then?" Sam continued to ask.

"Stop it, Sam." Dean stood up and walked over to the table where he had tools and some parts laid out.

"Stop what?"

"Stop asking if I need anything," he told his brother. "Stop asking if we're okay. We're okay. Really, I promise. Right, Sarah?"

Sarah stood up. Sam tried to help her but she pushed his hands away. "I'm fine," was she said.

Dean took apart the ratchet he was using and connected another piece to it.

Sam placed his hands on his pelvis, "All right, Dean. It's just…We've been at Bobby's for over a week now, and neither of you haven't brought up Dad once."

Dean looked back at his brother. "You know what? You're right. Come here," he motioned with his hand. "I wanna lay my head gently on your shoulder. Maybe we can cry, hug. Maybe even slow dance," he smiled, sarcastically.

Sam shook his head, "Don't patronize me, Dean. Dad is dead." He watched as Dean walked back over to the car. "The Colt is gone and it seems pretty damn likely that the demon is behind all this, and you're acting like nothing happened."

"What do you want us to say?" Dean asked him.

"Say something, all right?" Sam raised his voice. "Hell, say anything. Aren't you angry? Don't you want revenge? But all you do is sit out here all day long, buried underneath this damn car."

Sarah finally looked up at her uncle, glaring at him. "Why don't you mind your own business, Uncle Sam? Dad and I said we were fine." She told him.

"Because what you're doing isn't healthy, Sarah," he replied.

"But getting revenge is," said Dean. "So, got any leads on where the demon is? You making heads or tails of any of Dad's research? I sure ain't and neither does Sarah." Sam twisted around for a second before untwisting. "But you know, when we do finally find it…No. No, wait. Like you said, the Colt's gone. But I'm sure you figured out another way to kill it. We got nothing, Sam. Nothing, okay? See, the only thing I can do, is I can work on the car and bond with my daughter in the process." Dean kneeled down on one knee.

"Well, we got something all right?" said Sam, taking a cell phone out of his pocket. "That's what I came out here to tell you. It's one of Dad's old phones. Took me a while, but I cracked his voicemail. Listen to this." He held the phone out to Dean.

Dean stood back up, taking the phone from him and put it to his ear, listening to a message from some woman named, Ellen he didn't know of and handed it back.

"That message is four months old," Sam explained.

"Dad saved that chick's message for four months?" he asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"Who's Ellen? Any mention of her in Dad's journal?"

"No. But I ran a trace on the phone number and I got an address."

Dean shrugged, "Ask Bobby if we can use one of his cars."

"Do I have to stay, Dad?" Sarah asked. "I'd rather be with you right now."

Dean ran his right hand through her hair, "No, baby girl, you can come if you want. It's not a hunt. We're just gonna go see who this Ellen is and come right back."

She nodded.

"Come on. Let's go get cleaned up before we head out." Sam watched as Dean led his daughter inside the house.


	47. Chapter 47

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 47

Sarah sat in the front bench of an old minivan, behind her father. Her forehead was against the window as she stared out, clutching her monkey to her. Her grandfather dying right there in front of her played in her mind as if it was on a loop. She closed her eyes as his last words echoed. Sarah couldn't believe he was gone. Why do good things happen to good people? They were starting to be a family. Sarah was starting to have just what she and her father wanted. She had realized couple days ago, John had probably made a deal. His life for Dean's. Deal-making was also in her book, but normally it took place at crossroads. Where did he find one?

Dean pulled up to an old roadhouse joint. Sarah lifted her head to look straight out through the front window. It looked like they should be riding up on horses to that place.

Dean turned the engine off. "This is humiliating," he complained to himself, out loud and stepped out of the van, shutting the door. "I feel like a frigging soccer mom."

Sam got out of the front seat, shutting his door and opening up the side door for his niece. "It's the only car Bobby had running," he explained. "Besides, you do have a daughter." Sam laughed as his brother scowled at him.

"You see me driving her to soccer practice?" he asked.

Sam tried to lift Sarah out of the van to help her, but Sarah was sitting down and sliding out of the van herself. "I wish Sarah could play soccer, actually," he shrugged after shutting the side door and walked around the van to Dean's side.

Sarah didn't say anything to her uncle about how she'd rather play baseball than soccer. She kept quiet, standing beside her father, leaning her head against him. Dean did though, sort of.

"Nah, I see Sarah more as playing little league." The three of them looked around and peeked inside the place, trying to see if anyone was home. It seemed deserted. So Dean used a lockpick to break in. Looking inside, it was quiet with someone sleeping on a pool table.

"Hey buddy," Sam tried to wake the guy up as Dean stepped closer to him. "I'm guessing that isn't Ellen."

Dean agreed.

Sam went into another room to check out the rest of the place. Sarah walked beside Dean as he headed towards the kitchen. Dean felt something dig into his back. "Oh God, please let that be a rifle," he hoped.

Sarah looked back and saw a pretty, young woman looked to be around Sam's age, holding a shotgun rifle up to the middle of Dean's back. Thinking fast, she jumped up and grabbed the shotgun out of the young woman's hands before she even knew what was happening, and pointed it to her.

The young woman was surprised. "Wait, you're a little kid?" she asked, amazed.

"Who you calling, little kid?" Sarah glared back at her. "You Ellen?" She nodded up at the young woman.

"No, I am. Who's asking?" The three of them turned their heads to see Sam walking back into the room with his hands folded behind his head and an older woman following him, pointing a pistol at him.

Dean looked between the women. "I'm Dean. This is Sarah and that's Sam." He nodded over at his brother.

The older woman, Ellen looked between the boys. "Sam? Dean?" She gave one last look between them. "Winchester?"

"Yeah," all three said in union.

"Son of a bitch," she said.

"Mom, you know these guys?" the younger woman asked her.

"Yeah, I think these are John Winchester's boys." Ellen laughed as the Winchesters stared at her. She lowered the pistol. "Hey, like I said, I'm Ellen. My daughter, Jo."

"Hey," the young woman, Jo told them. "Can I have my gun back?"

Sarah lowered her guard and gave the shotgun back.

"Thanks. You're pretty good, kid. Not bad, considering you only have one good arm."

Dean grinned, placing a hand on top of his daughter's head, "Of course. She is a Winchester after all."

"So what can I do for you boys?" Ellen asked them.

"You called our dad, said you could help," he told her, sitting back on a barstool that was behind him. "Help with what?"

"Well, the demon of course," she replied. "I heard he was closing in on it."

Sarah was trying to climb up onto the barstool next to her father, having more difficulty. She really hated having no use of her left arm and couldn't wait until her shoulder healed. Dean stood up again to help her.

"Was there an article of Demon Hunters Quarterly that I missed?" he asked, lifting his daughter up to set her on the barstool. "I mean, who are you? How do you know about all this?"

"Hey, I just run a saloon. But hunters have been known to pass through now and again. Including your dad a long time ago. John was like family once."

"Oh yeah? How come he never mentioned you before?"

"You'd have to ask him that," she told him.

Sarah looked away, looking around at the décor while Dean asked, "So why exactly do we need your help?"

"Hey, don't do me any favors. Look, if you don't want my help, fine. Don't let the door smack your ass on the way out. But John wouldn't have sent you if…" Ellen stopped in mid-sentence and shifted her weight. "He didn't send you."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks between each other.

"He's all right, isn't he?"

"No," Sam replied. "No, he isn't. It was the demon, we think and um, it just got him before he got it, I guess."

Sarah's emotions were starting to take over. She jumped down from the barstool and ran over to one of the arm chairs that were around a coffee table, curling up into a ball. After watching her, Dean stood up and walked over to her, lifting her up into his arms, being careful of her shoulder.

Ellen watched the scene, "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," he told her, comforting his daughter. "We're all right."

"Really," she said. "I know how close you and your dad…"

Dean looked over at her, "Really, lady, I'm fine."

No one said anything for a moment until Sam said, "So look. If you can help…we could use all the help we can get."

Dean looked over at his brother when he said that.

"Well, we can't," Ellen admitted, sharing a look with her daughter before looking back at Sam. "But Ash will."

"Who's Ash?" asked Sam.

"Ash?" she called.

Everyone turned as the guy sleeping over on the pool table violently stirred from a deep sleep. "What?" he called back and looked over his shoulder. "Closing time?"

Sam looked at Jo, pointing back at Ash, "That's Ash?" he asked.

Jo nodded, smiling at him, "Mm-hm. He's a genius."

The guy, Ash stood up and walked over to the bar, taking Sarah's seat. Sam hurried back out to the van to fetch his father's research, bringing it back inside and dropped it on the bar.

Dean was standing at the bar, holding Sarah on his right side. "You gotta be kidding," he scoffed, smiling. "He's no genius. He's a Lynyrd Skynyrd roadie."

Ash looked over at Jo, who was standing on the other side of the bar. He looked back at Dean, "I like you."

"Thanks," he replied.

"Just give him a chance," Jo told Dean.

Dean looked from Jo to Ash before shifting his daughter so he could sit down, setting her on the bar. "All right," he said, touching the overstuffed folder, "this stuff's a year's worth of our dad's work. So, uh…" Dean pushed it over to Ash. "Let's see what you make of it."

Ash opened it up and pulled out a stack of papers and began going through it, shaking his head at it. "Come on. This crap ain't real. There ain't nobody that can track a demon like this."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks again. "Our dad could," Sam shrugged, like it was a well-known fact.

He looked up at them then returned to shifting through the papers. "These are nonparametric statistical overviews," Ash explained. "Cross-spectrum correlations. I mean…damn." He couldn't believe how organized and put together the research was. "They're signs. Omens. If you can track them, you can track this demon. You know, like crop failures, electrical storms. You ever been struck by lightning? It ain't fun."

"Can you track it or not?" Sam asked, impatiently.

"Yeah, with this, I think so. But it's gonna take time. Give me…" Ash thought on it, shutting his eyes. Opening them, he said, "Fifty-one hours," and walked away.

Dean was leaning on his arms that were wrapped around Sarah, on the bar. "Hey man," he called after Ash.

"Yeah," he replied, turning around slowly.

"By the way, I, uh, dig the haircut."

Ash pointed to his hair, "All business up front…" and ran it along the side, flipping his hair out. "…and party in the back."

Sam chuckled to himself as Sarah said, "I like him. He's cool." Dean watched Jo walk around the bar, not paying Sarah any attention. Sam noticed a folder sticking out, behind a police scanner, "hey Ellen, what is that?"

Ellen looked over there. "It's a police scanner. We keep tabs on things."

Dean swung around and walked over to where Jo was cleaning tables, setting Sarah on his seat.

"No, no, no. The folder," Sam corrected.

Ellen paused before walking over to grab it, "Uh. I was gonna give this to a friend of mine. But…take a look if you want," and set it in front of him and looked over at Sarah. "Want something to drink, little one?"

She nodded. "Yes, please."

"What ya have?" Ellen smiled, sweetly at her. "We got Coke, Root beer, and we may have some milk, too."

"Do you have chocolate milk?" Sarah asked.

"You know, we just might." Ellen went in the back to double check as Sam went through the folder. After a few minutes, she came back and set a glass of chocolate milk in front of her.

Sarah took it, taking a long drink.

"What do you say, Peanut?" Sam reminded her, not looking up.

She stopped, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand as she finished swallowing. "Thank you, Miss Ellen," Sarah thanked her, politely.

"You are welcome, sweetheart," Ellen replied. "Let me know if you want some more, all right?"

Sarah nodded.

Dean was over talking to Jo about how her mother got into hunting. Jo explained that her father was a hunter who died when she was a kid.

"Sorry to hear about your dad," she was saying now.

Dean nodded, raising his eyebrows before looking away. "Yeah," he said, quietly. "So, uh…I guess I got fifty-one hours to waste. Maybe tonight we should…" Dean thought on what he was saying and then changed his mind. "No, you know what? Never mind."

Jo looked at him, "What?"

Dean looked away again, "Nothing, just, uh… wrong place, wrong time."

"You know, I thought you were gonna toss me some cheap pick up line," she told him, making him laugh. "Most hunters come through that door, think they can get in my pants with some pizza, a six-pack, and side one of Zeppelin IV."

"What a bunch of scum bags," he stated.

Jo shook her head, smiling, "Not you."

Dean shrugged, "I guess not."

Sam called Dean over to check out the folder he was still reading.

He walked over to his brother, "Yeah?"

"A few murders, not far from here, that Ellen caught wind of," Sam explained. "Looks to me like this may be a hunt."

"Yeah, so?" shrugged Dean.

"So I told her we'd check it out."

"We can't, Sam," he said.

"Why not?"

"Sam, Sarah has a dislocated shoulder still healing. She can't hunt yet," Dean reminded his brother.

"She can stay here," Ellen offered. "We'll keep an eye on her for you."

Dean replied, "Thanks but no thanks."

"Why not, Dean?" asked Sam.

"Sam, you're willing to leave your niece with a bunch of strangers we just met?"

"If Ellen's a friend of Dad's, then we shouldn't have anything to worry about. It's only half an hour away."

"Trust me, Sarah will be well protected and taken care of," Ellen assured him.

"I said no. Look Sam, we didn't come here to hunt," Dean turned back to Sam. "If we did, I would have left her with Bobby."

Sarah reached out and grabbed her father's arm. "Dad, if there's innocent people getting killed, then you should go and help them," she told him. Sarah didn't want her father to leave either but she knew that lives were at stake here that he and Sam could save.

Dean looked down at his daughter, "I'm not leaving you here, baby girl."

"Dad, I'll be fine. Remember when we rescued Grandpa from those demons?"

"You weren't injured then," he pointed out.

"Dad, those people are gonna die if you don't go help them," Sarah argued with her father.

"Some other hunter can take care of it."

Sarah glared up at him. "Quit being hard-headed, Dad. What if there are no other hunters for a while? What if more die that you could have saved?"

Both Ellen and Jo were impressed by the little girl, exchanging looks between each other.

Sam backed his niece up. "Peanut's got a point there, Dean."

Dean looked at his brother and over at Ellen. "You have my word. Your daughter will be fine," she assured him again.

He did not want to give in but he knew he wouldn't hear the last of it from his daughter. _Why did Sarah have to have such a loving and caring heart?_ Dean thought to himself. "Fine," he finally gave in. "But if anything happens, baby girl, call me. Okay?"

She nodded at him.

Dean went outside to bring in his daughter's duffel bag and monkey.

Sam squatted down to give his niece a hug, who was standing by the door, and kissed the side of her head. "We'll be back. Okay, Peanut?"

"Okay, Uncle Sammy," Sarah hugged him back.

Sam rubbed her back, a few times before letting go and stood up so Dean could hug her, good-bye. Dean kneeled down and pulled his daughter into a tight embrace.

"You're more trusting than I am, baby girl," he mumbled in her ear.

"I'm just good at seeing when someone's good," she replied.

Dean kissed the side of her head, holding it for a long time and then held her head against hers. Finally he stood up, ruffling her hair. "Be good, got it?" he smirked, knowing she would. Dean knew Sarah hated disappointing him and tried hard not to cause trouble.

Sarah grinned in return. "I will, Dad."

Dean turned to Ellen and Jo, "Make sure she ices that shoulder an hour before bed. Otherwise, the kid's pretty much independent. Easiest baby-sitting job one can ever have."

"Dad, I'm not a baby," Sarah told him, folding her right arm into the sling she was wearing, lightly.

"Fine, kid-sitting. Satisfied?"

Sarah smiled again, nodding and Dean gave her one last kiss before following his brother outside, to the van. The boys got in and not long after, drove off in the direction of the town that the murders were taking place in.


	48. Chapter 48

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 48

"You got to be kidding me," Dean said as he drove down the highway towards the town the murders were taking place in. "A killer clown?"

"Yeah," Sam replied. He was holding a flashlight over the news articles he was looking over again in the folder, open in his lap. "He left the daughter unharmed and killed the parents. Ripped them to pieces, actually."

"And this family was at a carnival that night?" he asked.

"Right, right. The Cooper Carnival."

Dean shrugged, focused on the road ahead, "So, how do you know we're not dealing with some psycho in a clown suit?"

"Well, the cops have no viable leads," explained Sam, "and all the employees were tearing down shop. Alibis all around. Plus, the girl said she saw a clown vanish into thin air. Cops are saying trauma, of course."

"I know what you're thinking, Sam," Dean smirked. "Why did it have to be clowns?"

Sam looked at his brother and rolled his eyes, returning to the folder in his lap, "Oh, give me a break."

He laughed, "You didn't think I remembered, did you? Come on, you still bust out crying whenever you see Ronald McDonald on the television."

"At least I'm not afraid of flying," Sam pointed out.

"Planes crash," he replied.

"And apparently, clowns kill."

Dean did not respond to that, not finding anything to say. Sarah had a reason to be afraid of flying since she was on a plane during a storm with her grandfather, Greg at a young age and it ended up having enough turbulence to scar a kid for life. Dean just did not prefer being on a plane when he knew there could be a chance for it to crash. "So these types of murders," he finally changed the subject back to the job, "they ever happen before?"

"Uh, according to the file," Sam said, looking it over, "1981. The Bunker Brothers Circus. Same M.O. It happened three different times, three different locales."

"It's weird though. If it is a spirit, it's usually bound to a specific locale. You know, a house or a town."

"How's this one moving from carnival to carnival?" Sam asked.

"Cursed object, maybe," guessed Dean. "The spirit attaches itself to something, the carnival carries it around with them."

Sam groaned, "Great. Paranormal scavenger hunt."

"Yup," he said. "This case was your idea. By the way, why is that? You were awfully quick to jump on this job."

"So?" Sam shrugged.

"It's just not like you, that's all. I thought you were hell-bent-for-leather on the demon hunt."

He shrugged again, "I don't know. I just think, taking this job, it's what Dad would've wanted us to do."

Dean looked over at his brother, "What Dad would have wanted?"

"Yeah."

Dean looked forward again, in disbelief.

"So?" he questioned.

Dean gave a quick look at him before turning back to the road. "Nothing," he said.

Sam looked back at his brother for a moment, not saying anything before returning to the folder again. After ten minutes of silence, Sam looked up, ahead, thinking of his niece back at the roadhouse and how close she was to his brother. "Hey, uh, Dean."

What?" he replied, still focused on the road.

"Sarah didn't want me to say anything but back at the hospital before you woke up, a boy asked her out. I think there might be a spark between them. She sneaks off in the middle of the night to call him."

Dean kept juggling his focus on his brother and the road. "What boy? How old is he? Where's he from?"

Sam tried to stifle a smile. There wasn't a boy, he just wanted to get Dean's reaction but he continued. "His name's Tim, a year older than her. Already talking about prom and even getting married. They want to name their kids, Dean Jr., Frank, and Melody." Sam looked away, hiding his grin since he couldn't mask it anymore, not expecting Dean to whip out his phone and go into his contacts, looking up Ellen's number he had gotten before they left. He snapped back at his brother when he heard Dean tell Ellen to put his daughter on the phone.

Sarah sat at the bar, a stack of Pokémon cards in front of her, facedown as she slumped over with her chin on the edge of the bar. She drew a card from the top of the deck and placed it next to another that was faced up, putting the Pokémon card that lost into a pile to the side. The place was a little busy now with other hunters.

Sarah wasn't paying anyone else attention and did not hear Jo walk up. "What'cha got there?" Jo asked, wiping off the bar around the little girl's card game. When she didn't respond, Jo bent over to stare at Sarah, at eye level. "Hello? Earth to Sarah. Come in, over."

Sarah looked up with just her eyes as Jo smiled at her and repeated what she had asked before. "My Pokémon cards," Sarah replied. "I don't have anyone to battle with so I'm battling myself."

Jo had stood up again. "Oh, cool. I remember that came out when I was in middle school, I think. You like that?"

Sarah lifted her head to nod, yes and then lowered it back down onto her chin.

Jo watched as she continued to wipe down the bar. Sarah was drawing another card, placing it next to the victor of the last battle. Finally, Jo asked, "Mind if I ask what happened to your mom?"

"Combination of the demon and a brain tumor," she replied not looking up.

"How long ago did she pass away?"

"A year next month."

"I'm sorry to hear that, I know how it feels to lose a parent as a kid," Jo told her.

"I'm fine," Sarah said like her father would respond.

Jo happened to look over where her mother was working in the kitchen, exchanging looks between each other. Finally, Ellen called over to Sarah, "Gettin' hungry yet, Sarah? I can fix you a grilled cheese if ya like."

Sarah shrugged, "Sure."

The phone on the wall, behind the bar rang. Ellen stopped washing a glass, grabbing a hand towel on the way to answer it, drying her hands. "This is Ellen," she said. "Dean? Calm down, here she is." Ellen stretched the phone over to where Sarah was sitting, who had lifted her head when she heard her father's name.

"Dad?" she asked into the phone. "What's wrong?"

"What's this I hear about a boyfriend?" Dean demanded of his daughter. "Just because I tease you about it, doesn't mean I want you start dating already. You're only eight."

Sarah looked like she had no clue what her father was talking about. "Dad, I don't have a boyfriend. Who said I did?"

"Sam says a boy at the hospital asked you out," he told her. "You are too young to be talking marriage and kids, young lady."

"Dad, I do not have a boyfriend. The only ones I talked to at the hospital besides our family was Papa, Gram, and Mark, that's it. I swear. I was too busy worrying about you to see if there was even any other kids there," she tried to tell him, honest as she could.

Dean looked over at his brother who had an _oh, shit!_ on his face. Sam did not mean to take this that far. He didn't think Dean would lose it. At least not that far.

"Dean, I was kidding. I really did not mean it," Sam tried to dig his way back out of the grave he had just dug himself into.

Dean glared over at him before rolling his eyes away. "Sorry about that, baby girl. But just know this, just because I tease you about that stuff, I don't want you dating until you're my age. Got it? And I want to meet this guy first and he has to be approved by myself, Sam, and possibly Bobby too just to play it safe."

"Considering I still think boys in that way are still disgusting to me, that will not be a problem," Sarah assured her father.

"Okay, baby girl," he grinned, glad to hear his only daughter say that about boys. "Aside from that, are you okay? I hear a bunch of people. Is the place packed now?"

Sarah looked back, around the place at all the hunters, talking and drinking. "Yeah, I didn't know there were so many hunters out there besides our family."

"There's hunters all over the place out there, we just don't make it known. We don't gather in groups and hold raffles. Just make sure you stay in Ellen or Jo's sight. Understand? Do not talk to any of them."

"What if they talk to me first?" Sarah asked. "I can't ignore them, that'll be rude."

"Tell them your dad says you can't talk and if they have a problem they can deal with me. Still can't believe I let you and Sam talk me into leaving you behind." Dean was mostly thinking out loud with that last part.

"Dad, I'll be fine, all right? Remember, I took down my six-foot tall uncle with one punch," she reminded him. "And you taught me everything I know. You said it yourself, I'm a Winchester." The roadhouse got deathly quiet when the name Winchester was mentioned.

Jo looked up from pouring a glass of beer for a forty-three-year-old, rugged-looking hunter as Sarah noticed, too.

She looked back, scanning around the room, "This is awkward," Sarah said.

Dean knew what she meant. He was wondering why it had gotten so quiet in the back.

Ellen came to Sarah's rescue, "Uh, Sarah, could you come help me with something?" she asked.

"Sure, Miss Ellen," she replied. "I have to go, Dad. Miss Ellen needs help."

"All right, baby girl," he said. "I will see you when we get back. I love you."

"Love you, too, Dad." Sarah handed Jo the phone who hung it up, before gathering up her Pokémon cards and jumped off the stool. She hurried into the kitchen catching murmurs of _There's another Winchester? _and _That's gotta be Dean Winchester's kid_. "Yes, Miss Ellen?" Sarah asked of her.

Ellen was busy cooking. "Maybe you should hang out in here until closing time," she suggested. "I didn't think how much you being a Winchester would make a fuss around here. Word can spread among hunters."

"Okay," she shrugged. "Need any help for real?"

"Nah, it's not as busy as it usually is. Everything's under control," Ellen smiled at her.

Sarah walked over to the kitchen table that was in there and sat down in one of the chairs.

Ellen watched her as she grilled a couple steaks, flipping them over now and then. "So, what did your dad want?"

"Uncle Sam told him I had a boyfriend now," she replied, restarting her card game. "I don't though and I don't want one. Boys can be my friend. I don't mind that."

"So you don't like boys unlike they are your friend," Ellen tried to figure out. "Seems like a good idea. You have a long life ahead of you."

"Dad says I can't date until I'm twenty-seven, and he, Uncle Sam, and Uncle Bobby has to meet him first," she explained what Dean had told her.

"Uncle Bobby? Bobby Singer?" she asked Sarah.

"Yeah. You know him?" Sarah asked, too.

"There is rarely a hunter I don't know, but yeah, I know him. Haven't talked in while, though."

Sarah was sitting back, against the back of the chair, looking over at Ellen. "We're staying at Uncle Bobby's house while Dad and I rebuild the car. My dad has the coolest car ever. It's a 1967 Chevy Impala. Grandpa gave it to Dad for his eighteenth birthday and Dad's gonna pass it to me when I turn eighteen. Uncle Sam is mad about that but Dad says he trusts me more to take care of it because Uncle Sam doesn't know anything about cars like we do."

"How old are you, sweetie?" Ellen had been wondering how old Sarah was since she heard the kid speak.

"Eight."

"Eight?" she asked, surprised. "Wow, I'm impressed. I thought you were eleven."

Sarah sighed, "I get that a lot. I have a high IQ for someone my age and a good memory."

"Bet your mom and dad are proud," Ellen smiled.

She shook her head. "My mom was never proud of anything I did. Dad says I make him proud every day, though."

"I heard you telling Jo out there, she passed away a year ago. What did you mean by a combination of the demon and a brain tumor?" Ellen was making up a couple dinner plates now.

Sarah explained about what really caused the tumor to grow, eventually leading into her past as Ellen moved around the kitchen, tending to customers' orders and washing dishes. The conversation carried on passed closing time. By the time, Sarah knew it, she, Ellen, and Jo were having a late dinner at the table.

"I'm so sorry you had a mom like that," Jo said.

Sarah shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal. "I'm fine," she said. "I have my dad and uncles, and that's all I need…I guess." Sarah looked down at what was left of the macaroni and cheese Ellen had made for her, thinking about her grandfather again.

"Is there something else you want to talk about?" Ellen asked, concerned.

She shook her head at her dinner, "No, I said I was fine."

"We're here if you want to talk," said Jo. "Is it your mom?"

Sarah shot her head up at them, "What part of fine, don't you get?"

"Don't yell at us," Ellen told her, in a stern voice. "We just figured since you opened up to us already, you're comfortable talking with what's bugging you. If you don't want to talk, that's fine."

Sarah sat there, staring at her food, still. "I'm sorry, Miss Ellen, Miss Jo. Mind if I be excused?"

"Yes you may. Want that ice for your shoulder now?"

She nodded, slowly.

Ellen stood up and headed to the freezer to make up an ice pack, putting ice cubes into a sandwich bag and wrapped it in a paper towel. Sarah tossed her leftover food into the trash and put her bowl in the sink before taking the ice pack from Ellen, thanking her and headed to the extra bedroom in the back.

Sarah lied down on one of the beds, on her right side and held the ice pack to her shoulder, wishing her father was there. After lying there for an hour, Ellen knocked on the door, sticking her head in.

"Hey, I wanted to check on you. I'm heading to bed, need anything?" she asked.

Sarah shook her head, not looking up.

"I'm straight down the hall if you do need anything and Jo's across the hall. Okay?"

She nodded, this time.

Ellen stepped into the room to set Sarah's cards on top of her duffel bag. "You left your cards in the kitchen. They're on top of your bag." Ellen watched her lay there, staring at the far wall on the other side of the room. Every motherly instinct told her to go over and hug the little girl but she stifled it. "Bathroom's right next to you on the left. Good night."

"'Night," Sarah replied, somberly.

Ellen left, shutting the door behind her.

Sarah pulled out the photo she had given back to John and stared at her grandfather as a tear flowed down her cheek.

"Hello, Sarah."

Sarah jumped, lifting her head to see the demon sitting on the other bed, smiling at her. Angrily, she sat up. "What are you doing here?"

"Just thought I'd check up on you. You know, see how you're doing," he said.

""What did you do to my grandpa?"

"Nothing, it all was his idea," the demon shrugged. "I just helped him help your dad."

Sarah eyed him, suspiciously, "I don't believe you. What are you talking about?"

"Now Sarah, I figured of the three of you, you'd be able to figure out what your grandfather did. Your daddy mysteriously wakes up and then your grandfather dies. Think about it."

She bit her lower lip. Sarah did not want it to be true but feared her grandfather had made a deal with the demon to save her father. "But I thought you get ten years. Why did Grandpa die now?"

The demon leaned on his left knee. "Let's just say, he got a raw deal," he smirked.

Sarah leaped to her feet. "You're supposed to give him ten years, that's the deal. That's what it says in my book."

"Not necessary, it depends on the person and how valuable the soul is."

"So my grandpa is down in hell, right now?" she questioned the demon.

"Experiencing the worse pain imaginable," the demon smirked.

"You son of a…" Sarah made a dash for her bag, grabbing her gun, pointing it at the demon who continued to smile.

"Wrong gun, Sarah, you need this, remember?" The demon pulled the Colt out from inside his jacket.

Sarah stared at it, seeing if she could make it come to her. She figured if she just thought about her father in danger, it could work but it didn't and only caused a headache.

The demon smirked again, "See ya later, Sarah." And with that, he was gone, leaving Sarah alone.

Sarah lowered the gun and fell back against the door, more tears falling. A knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Everything all right, Sarah?" she heard Jo call through the door. "I heard you talking to someone."

"No, just talking to myself," Sarah called back, lying.

"Okay," it sounded like Jo didn't believe her but did not argue. "Good night."

"Yeah. Good night." Sarah listened until she was sure Jo had gone into her own room and walked over to climb on to the bed, sitting back on her legs. She stared at the pillow before she started punching it, repeatedly with her right fist. "Stupid demon! Stupid demon! Stupid demon! You ruin everything!" she said, out loud, trying to keep her voice down. "I hate you!"

Sarah thought about her grandfather and what she had learned in Sunday school about what hell was like which only made her anger rise even more as she got louder, tears pouring from her eyes. It eventually brought Ellen, Jo, and Ash in.

Ellen opened the door as Ash asked, "What the hell is going on in here?"

They watched as Sarah continued punching the pillow, screaming out her hatred for all demons now. Ellen and Jo hurried over and grabbed a hold of the little girl, trying to calm her down.

Sarah out of nowhere clung onto Ellen, surprisingly both women. Ellen didn't fight it, though. She rubbed the girl's back as she held her in her arms. "Settle down, you're okay," Ellen assured her as Sarah sobbed into her left shoulder.

Jo watched, standing beside the bed now. Ash had gone back to his room. Ellen and Jo exchanged looks between each other as Ellen continued to hold Sarah. After a while, Sarah cried herself to sleep. Jo had noticed the picture of John and his boys and picked it up, to get a better look at it as Ellen laid Sarah down, on the well-fluffed, one could say, pillow and Jo passed the picture to her mother.

Ellen took it and looked the picture over, recognizing John. At least they knew what was wrong with her now.


	49. Chapter 49

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 49

It was midmorning around nine o'clock. The roadhouse was deserted again of hunters. Sarah sat at the coffee table, on the floor with her chin pressed to it as she stared at a glass of water, trying to focus on it. She remembered how she was able to send the demon flying across the room. If only she could get control of her powers, they may have a better fighting chance the next time. Sarah scrunched her forehead, thinking of her grandfather dying, figuring the same thing as she did the night before with the Colt.

As Sarah continued, Ash walked by, noticed her staring at a glass of water. "What the…"

"Ash!" Ellen called from the bar.

"It's okay," Sarah assured, "my dad cusses, too. I already know every word."

Ellen returned to preparing for the day.

Ash shook his head and walked away as Sarah continued staring at the glass. _Come on! _She thought as she tried to move it. After five minutes, Sarah thought of her grandfather, father, and uncle all killed by the hands of the demons not really thinking of the consequences. The glass started to shake as rings rippled on the surface of the water. Once she saw the demon laugh as her family laid there, not moving, bloody and beaten up, the glass flew across the room, crashing against the far wall into a dozen pieces.

Sarah shot up to her feet in shock and turned to Ellen, "Sorry, Miss Ellen! I didn't think it would do that."

"What was it you were trying to do?" she asked, grabbing a broom and dust pan and walked over to where the grass had broken.

Sarah hesitated, not sure how to explain it. "Uh. Um. Well, you see…Nothing. I'll clean it up, Miss Ellen." She walked over and took the broom and dust pan from her, squatting down to start sweeping, being careful not to cut herself.

Ellen watched her clean up the mess and then walk over to one of the arm chairs, sitting down. Sarah just sat there, staring off into space. Ellen wished she knew what was going on inside that head of hers, but figured it was something to do with her grandfather.

"You sure you don't want to talk?" she urged Sarah.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Sarah replied.

Ellen let out a long breath before returning to her work.

The following morning, Sam called the roadhouse this time, asking about the homicidal clown they were hunting. Ellen took a guess and said it was a Rakshasa, a race of ancient Hindu creatures. She explained how a Rakshasa appears in human form and feeds on human fresh. They can also make themselves invisible and cannot enter a home without being invited first. Rakshasas live in squalors, sleeping on a bed of dead insect, feeding every twenty to thirty years. Only way to kill a Rakashasa is with a dagger made of pure brass.

Sam thanked Ellen and was about to end the conversation when she interrupted him. "Sam, I'm worried about Sarah. She doesn't seem to be taking your father's death quite well," she explained.

"You mean keeping it held in?" he asked. ""Yeah, Dean's doing it, too. None of them are talking about it. Won't let me help or anything."

"That's not what I mean." Ellen told Sam about the first night and the day before. Only Ellen didn't see what Sarah did with the glass and assumed she had thrown it. "Jo has tried to talk to her. I've tried. No one can get through to her and I'm worried it's gonna destroy her from the inside out. Sarah doesn't seem to want to run around and be a kid."

"Actually, as long as I've known her the past year, she isn't the kid who runs around and acts like a normal kid but I understand what you're saying and you're right. Sarah isn't the out-of-control kid who throws or punches things. Something's up and I know Sarah knows something," Sam explained, walking a way's away behind his brother.

"How do you figure?" she asked.

"Sarah was the last to see my dad alive. She says she doesn't know but I think she does."

"Of course, someone that young seeing their grandfather die. We'd all be scarred too. The question is what did she see?"

Sam shook his head, "I have no idea. Look, I doubt she'll talk to any of us, but maybe if I can talk to Dean, maybe the two of them can share and care with each other. I mean, they are dealing with the same feelings, basically and Sarah is closest to him."

"If Dean won't talk to you, what makes you think he'll open up to a child? Even if it's his own."

"Because I've seen how Dean is with his daughter. It's like Sarah has the ability to make him all soft and cuddly. Dean was never like that, he's the tough, macho guy not a teddy bear," he explained.

"Fatherhood can do that to a person, sometimes," Ellen shrugged before she happened to look over to see Sarah coming from the bedrooms, rubbing the sleep from her eye and still in her pajamas. "Sarah's up, Sam. Want to talk to her?"

"Yeah, put her on," he replied.

Ellen held the phone up, telling Sarah it was her uncle. Sarah walked around the bar and took the phone.

"Hey Uncle Sam, did you kill the psycho clown yet?" she asked into the phone.

"Not yet, we had to call Ellen to see what it was we were up against," he told her and explained what Ellen had said.

"I hate clowns," she stated.

Sam had to smile at that. "So do I, Peanut. They scare ya, huh?"

"Scare me? What idiot is scared of clowns? I'm talking about how dumb it is to put paint your face and wear shoes ten times your size just to get a laugh from children. Get a job, pal."

"Thanks for that, Peanut," he told her, shaking his head.

Sarah realized her uncle much have had a fear of clowns. "Oh crap. Sorry, Uncle Sammy. I didn't mean to call you an idiot. Did you see _It_, too?"

"See what?" he asked.

"The movie," she said.

"What movie?"

Sarah let out an annoyed breath. "_It_."

It finally clicked in what Sarah meant. "Oh, you mean, Stephen King's _It_. No, I didn't see it. No, it was just something your dad did when we were kids."

"What'd he do? Hide in the closet and jump out at you while wearing a clown suit?" she asked.

"No," Sam answered before changing the subject away from clowns. "So, how are you feeling, Peanut? How's your arm doing? Are you remembering to ice it before bed?"

"Yes, but it still kind of hurts."

"Hey, could have been worse," Sam shrugged. "Your dad or me would have had to do it ourselves and that would have hurt a lot more. With as much chocolate milk you drink, it'll be healed in no time."

"I hope so," she said.

Sam could tell she was still upset over John's death by the tone of her voice and him bringing up any part of the accident did not help any. "Peanut, can you please talk to someone? I don't care who as long as you let it out. You know you can come to me about anything." He could hear his niece moan to herself. "I'm just worried about you. This isn't like you."

"I'm okay, Uncle Sam. Really," she told him in a frustrated tone. "Why can't everyone just leave it alone? I don't want to talk!" With that, Sarah dropped the phone, letting it dangle from the cord and ran back to the room she had been staying in, slamming the door shut. She then threw herself onto the bed and buried herself into her music, using headphones. She didn't come out for the rest of the day. Ellen and Jo both tried talking to her but Sarah was just too closed up. There was only one person who could get in there and he was closed up himself.

Sam talked to Dean about what Ellen had told him about Sarah. Dean brushed it off as what he had told Sarah. If he backed off and let Sarah come to him when she was good and ready, she'll eventually talk to him. It worked before and it'll work again. So Sam called Ellen back to let her know.

Once the Rakshasa was finally killed, Sam and Dean headed back to the roadhouse, getting there the following morning where Sarah ran out from her room into her father's open arms. Dean and Sarah shared an extra-long hug. The boys celebrated their victory over a couple of beers until Jo walked up, leaning on the bar beside Dean. She eyed Sam in a way that told him to leave.

Sam looked back, wondering why she was staring at him until it finally dawned on him what she wanted. "Oh, uh…um. Sarah, you said you were going to teach me that card game of yours, why don't you show me now?" he suggested.

"Now? But you and Dad just got back. I missed you guys," Sarah told her uncle.

Now it was Sam's turn to pass Jo's look to his niece.

It took a minute before Sarah took the hint that the adults wanted to talk alone. "Right. Let me go get my cards." She jumped down and hurried back to the room to grab them.

Once Sam and Sarah were gone, Jo spoke, "Cute kid you got there."

"Yup, sure is," Dean stared at his beer in his hands.

"So," she changed the subject.

"So," he repeated, looking up at her.

"Am I gonna see you again?"

"Do you want to?" he asked.

Jo thought on that before she replied, "I wouldn't hate it."

Dean stared at his beer, "Hm. Can I be honest with you?" He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ellen was eavesdropping on their conversation. Understanding as a parent himself, he knew where she was coming from and would probably eavesdrop on his own daughter's conversations with boys. That and, Dean just wasn't feeling up to it. He did not feel in the mood. "See, normally, I'd be hitting on you so fast it would make your head spin. But, uh, these days…I don't know."

"Wrong place…" Jo asked and smiled over at her mother's back. "…Wrong time?"

Yeah," he said, quietly in almost a whisper.

"It's okay, I get it."

Ash came out at that point with his computer and John's research. "Where have you guys been? Been waiting for you," he told Sam and Dean.

Sam was sitting over at one of the tables with Sarah, with her cards spread out between them on the table, "We were working a job, Ash. Clowns?"

Ash looked at him, "Clowns? What the…"

"Got something for us, Ash?" Dean asked, interrupting him.

Sam stood up and hurried back over to the bar as Sarah quickly gathered up her cards again and joined the adults, too. "Find the demon?" Sam asked, sitting down on the same stool he was sitting on before.

"It's nowhere around," Ash explained. "At least, nowhere I can find. But if this fugly bastard raises its head, I'll know."

Sarah walked up at that point and stopped dead in her tracks. She wasn't sure if she should tell them the demon had been there, three nights ago. Would it even make a difference if they knew it?

"I mean, any of those signs or omens appear anywhere in the world my rig will go off. Like a fire alarm," she heard Ash continue. So shouldn't he have noticed anything that other night? The demon was right there inside the roadhouse. Could it be Sarah had just imagined the whole thing?

Dean had tried to check it out himself on Ash's computer but quickly pulled his hand back as he got a death glare.

Sam scoffed, "Ash, where did you learn to do all this?"

"MIT. Before I got bounced for fighting," he replied.

Sarah was hanging her arm over her father's right leg. "I tried to pester him two days ago. Learn some new things, nope. Guy locked himself up in his room."

"This little punk threatened me," Ash nodded towards the little girl.

"I wouldn't have had to but you decided to call me, shorty," Sarah glared back at him.

Dean reached down and popped his daughter on her backside. "I am really not in the mood right now, Sarah Lynn. So knock it off. The next time, I hear you threatening someone and they're not killing you, you will be over my knee before you can blink," he warned her.

Sarah was rubbing her backside where it hurt, "Yes, sir."

"So," Sam changed the subject quickly. ""MIT, huh."

"It's a school in Boston," Ash explained.

"Okay," said Dean, looking over at Ash, "give us a call as soon as you know something?"

"Si, Si, compadre," he replied.

Dean smiled and took one last swig of his beer before standing up. "You all packed and ready to go, baby girl?" he asked, looking down at his daughter.

Sarah hurried down the hall to the bedroom and quickly threw everything inside her duffel bag, before returning to where her father and uncle were standing by the door.

"Peanut, what do you tell Ellen, Jo, and Ash for letting you stay with them?" Sam told his niece.

Sarah set her duffel bag down and ran over to hug Ellen and Jo, thanking them. With Ash, the two of them exchanged handshakes, with Sarah trying to squeeze his hand. Ash squeezed back though, showing no mercy. She glared back at him as she walked back towards her father and uncle, shaking her hand. She walked backwards, pointing two fingers at her eyes then at him.

When Sarah was close enough, Dean cupped his hand around her head and pushed her along, out the door.

Inside the van as Dean started the engine, Sarah admitted, "I like them. Especially Miss Ellen. Hey Dad, I think Miss Jo likes you. Maybe you should date."

He rolled his eyes. "Great, my own kid is trying to hook me up." Dean looked back over his shoulder to back out. "Like I told Jo, not really into dating, right now."

Sarah grinned for the first time in a couple of weeks, "You're afraid of Miss Ellen, aren't you?"

Dean looked up at his daughter, through the rear-view mirror, "What? That's crazy, Sarah. I am not afraid of Ellen. I can take her, any time. Any day." There was a sudden knock on his window, making Dean yelp out in surprise.

It was Ellen, holding up Sarah's monkey. "I think Sarah left this behind," she said as Dean manually rolled down the window and took the monkey from her, tossing it over his shoulder.

Sarah caught it. "Thank you, Miss Ellen," she told her.

Ellen smiled back at the little girl, "You're welcome, Sarah."

When Ellen headed back inside the roadhouse, Dean rolled the window back up.

"Not afraid?" Sarah smirked at her father again. "Dad, you sounded like a girl."

"I did not and that was a yelp of surprise, not fear," he argued back.

She nodded, still smirking, "Sure, Dad. Sure."

Dean drove back to Bobby's place where he and Sarah continued working on the Impala. He continued to teach Sarah what to do, letting her help when it was something she could do. Conversations were still the same, nothing but cars. Sarah was learning pretty fast on what Dean was teaching her.

The two of them were working on putting new wheels on when Sam walked up, "You were right."

Sarah looked back at where her uncle was standing at the back of the car. "Right about what?" she asked.

"Not you, Peanut," he told her, quietly. "I mean your dad."

Dean finished tightening the bolt and stood up. "About what?" he asked, walking to the other side. Sarah followed after him.

"About me and Dad," said Sam. "I'm sorry the last time I was with him, I tried to pick a fight."

"No you're not," Sarah said without realizing it.

"Sarah, please. This is between your dad and me. You know nothing about what we are talking about," he told her.

"Really, because it seems like ever since that day when I talked to Grandpa over the phone, all I've seen and heard is you hating him. You wanted to find him but yet you bickered with or about him. Yeah, I fought with him, too and got mad but I wasn't intending too. So no, you're not sorry. Why are you even out here?"

Sam shook his head at his niece. "You want to argue with me on this then fine. Why are you even upset over this? You barely even knew our father. You met him, what a month ago for maybe five minutes. Then we spend a week together. Your dad and I, we've known him our whole lives."

Dean stepped in, "That's enough, Sam," he said. "It doesn't matter how long Sarah knew Dad for. The matter is, he was her grandfather and that what counts."

"The only reason Dad was her favorite grandfather is because Dad never punished her like her other one," Sam argued.

That heated Sarah up. "You don't even know the reason why Grandpa was my favorite, so shut up!" she snapped at him. "You don't know what it's like growing up with my other family."

"Don't tell me to shut up, Sarah," Sam scolded her. "I will wash your mouth out with soap."

Sarah glared at him.

"That's enough, both of you," Dean ended it before it got ugly. "Even with Dad gone, I still have to referee? Just cut it out. All right?"

Sam looked away, off to the side, his hands on his sides. "You may not see it, Sarah," he said, looking at his niece again, "But I do love him. And I am sorry for being angry with him all the time. It hurts to think that Dad died thinking that I hate him." His voice was cracking as he spoke. He looked at his brother, "You're right, Dean. What I'm doing right now, it's too little, too late." Sam switched back to Sarah, "I miss him just as much as you do, if not more. And I feel guilty as hell," inhaling and exhaling fast.

Sarah looked at the ground, feeling guilty for saying that to her uncle. They were all hurting. All three of them. It did hurt like hell having John gone from them, especially after spending a year searching for him. Plus, it wasn't Sarah's fault she didn't get to know her grandfather more, and Sam was sorry for always picking a fight with his father.

She looked up at her uncle and suddenly dashed over to him as Sam kneeled in the dirt. Uncle and niece shared a hug, together for a long time. "I'm sorry, Uncle Sam. I didn't mean any of it. I…"

"I know, Peanut," he replied, holding her in his arms, tightly. "I didn't mean any of it either. We both had no right to say those things." After they finally let go, Sam stood back up and looked over at his brother, who had been watching the two of them, not saying anything. "I know I'm not all right, Dean. Sarah knows it, too. And neither are you." There was a short pause before he told them he'll let the two of them get back to work and walked away.

Sarah watched her uncle head back inside the house before closing her eyes at the ground. Whoever said life was easier than death, did not know what they were talking about. Having to move on after losing a loved one, it hurt and Sarah wasn't sure if she could take any more pain. Shortly after, her thoughts were interrupted by glass shattering behind her. Sarah turned around in time to see her father with a crowbar in his hands, smashing into the trunk.

Sarah watched as her hero fall apart before her very eyes until he eventually stopped, leaning forward on his arms. She hurried over to him and hugged his legs.

Dean looked down, almost forgetting that his daughter had been standing there. "Sorry you had to see that, baby girl," he apologized.

"It's okay, Dad," she looked up at him. "I did the same thing with my fist and a pillow, the first night at the roadhouse." She looked down at the dirt, "I think I scared them."

Dean stood up and lifted his daughter up onto the trunk, away from the hole he had just put into it and sat down next to her, hanging his feet off the back bumper they haven't changed yet. He leaned forward, his forearms on his knees, switching from the dirt to ahead of him, a few times. "I, um…baby girl, I seem to always forget just how much alike we are."

"I thought Uncle Sam and I were alike?" she said, picking at a loose thread on her polyester athletic shorts.

"No," he shook his head and looked back at her. "Truth is, I think you're more like me than you are Sam or your grandfather."

Sarah looked up at her father, squinting from the bright sunlight.

Dean looked away. "Sarah, you're pretty much my clone," he told her, looking at her again. "It's like looking in a mirror, sometimes. I already heard about your outbursts. I shouldn't have left you behind. I should have put my foot down. I should have been there for you."

"But Dad, all I did was punch a pillow," she shrugged. "I would have done it even with you there. You did."

He looked down again, a whole lot of stuff on his mind. "You know how you look up to me…a lot, baby girl?"

"Yeah," Sarah replied.

"How you try to be just like me and always feel the need to defend me?"

"What about it, Dad?" she asked, leaning on her elbows that dug into her legs.

Dean looked around the salvage yard with just his eyes. "You…you got that from me, too. Since as long as I could remember, I worshiped my dad. I listened to the same music, did everything he did. It wasn't just because of that night with letting that shtriga get away. I wanted to make him proud by obeying every order, being the perfect son. Until the day he died, not once did my own dad tell me he was proud of me."

"So that's how you knew the demon was possessing him?"

Dean nodded, looking at the dirt. "You know that leather jacket of mine, you like?" he looked back at Sarah.

She nodded.

"It was Dad's first."

Sarah's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"

"Yup," he finally smiled. "I remember I wanted it since the day I first saw him wear it."

"Can I have it, one day, Dad?" she asked.

Dean sat up, straight to put his arm around her, "The day I die, the jacket is yours."

Sarah looked at the dirt, that time. "I don't want to think about when that day comes," she told him, sadly.

Dean hugged her to him, in one arm and kissed the top of her head.

"Did Grandpa really put more attention on Uncle Sam than he did you?" Sarah asked, thinking about that day when they ran into the demon.

"We were just both looking out for Sam. It didn't mean he didn't love me any less," Dean assured her.

A tear appeared. Sarah quickly wiped it away. "I'm sick of crying, Dad but I can't stop. Every time I think about Grandpa, it makes my eyes all watery. How do you keep from crying? Is there a secret to it?"

"There's nothing wrong with crying, baby girl. Trust me when I say, you're a lot stronger than me if you can cry. It helps to get all that grief out of your system. Me, I'm a guy. I have to mask it. I can't just cry, I have to keep it together for you and Sam."

"But maybe you'll feel better then, Dad. You said it yourself just now, it makes you stronger. I won't tell anyone, if that's what you're afraid of. I just don't want you become depressed like Mom did. Mom wasn't a very happy person her last two years and it affected everyone else around her and herself. She never cried either…" She thought for a couple seconds, looking up at the sky. "That I know of."

Dean was looking at the ground again.

"We can cry together, if you want," she kept trying. "I'll keep doing it just for you. Grandpa's gone…" Sarah choked on some more tears, letting them fall, wiping her nose on her bare arm. "Uncle Sam was right, I didn't know Grandpa for that long. That's what hurts the most about all this. For a whole year, I hear all about him and I'm hoping and praying every single day that we would find him that same day, or the next. That day, he called, I'm glad I answered your phone. If you or Uncle Sam had done it, I never would have gotten the chance. He would have hung up once he was finished giving those names." Sarah's eyes and nose ran as she continued to cry. "It's unfair I only got a short amount of time with him."

Dean rubbed her upper, left arm above the part of the sling as Sarah held her head against him. "I know, baby girl. I wish you could have had more time with him, too."

"Do you think Grandpa really did adore me?" she asked.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Maybe." Dean looked away. He could feel his face growing hot and his eyes gloss over. He tried to stifle it but his nose was starting to run and tried to sniff, quietly so Sarah wouldn't hear. Either it wasn't that quiet or she just had good hearing because she looked up.

Sarah pulled her arm between them and wrapped it across her father's back, rubbing it like he'd done for her. "It's okay, Dad. Really. Let it out."

Dean looked down at his daughter and stared into her eyes. It got to where he couldn't hold it any longer and broke down. Father and daughter sat there on the trunk of the car and cried, holding each other for God knows how long before Sarah was able to speak again and started singing the song again. In fact, when she finished, both of them sang it together. Dean didn't care how lame it was. All he cared about was that moment, holding his little girl in his arms.


	50. Author's Note

**Family is Where the Heart is**

**Author's Note**

**Thank you to all who continue to enjoy this story. I appreciate all your follows, favorites, and reviews, especially the reviews! But I am going to put this story on hold. Not because of writer's block but because my other stories have been getting neglected and I really hate having unfinished stories. In my opinion, Dean and Sarah having their father/daughter talk seems like a good ending for now. Don't worry! I am not ending the story there. There will be more to come in the future. I am not putting complete on this. I am just ending it for now. **

** Right now, what I really like is to continue my story of Sam and his kids so if you like Sarah, then you will like Sam's daughter, Mary. She's not considered a genius like Sarah is, but she is still smart for her age, just not as smart as Sarah. Sam also has a son named Jonathan who's like Dean. So, if you're interested, go check out my "A Sam Winchester Story" and the sequel, "Going back to Old Ways" which is also what I will be trying to update. **

** If you think you will be having Sarah withdraws though, and like the video game, **_**Legend of Zelda**_**, I have a **_**Supernatural**_**/**_**Legend of Zelda **_**crossover where Dean dreams he's Link saving Hyrule and Sam from Ganon. It follows along with the game, **_**Wind Waker**_** and I try to make it funny. I also started a **_**Supernatural**_**/**_**Pokémon **_**crossover, if anyone is interested in that. I've only gotten one chapter out, so far. **

** My fanfic about Castiel I'm not really proud of and I don't know what I was thinking about that one but it's there if you want to check it out. That one is finished though. I also started another one with Sam as a father to a little girl with special needs while Dean and Castiel are in Purgatory in cased you're interested in that, too. **

** Sorry for rambling but like I said, I am putting this story on hold for a while. I hope you decide to check out my other ones. **

**-SLPikachu**


	51. Chapter 50

**So I pretty much missed writing this story. Things will be different though. I know I usually tried to update a chapter every day, I have decided to rotate stories, that way no story gets attention over the other. Unless I decide to update another one later today, it will be at least a couple days until I update this again. 'Course, it's not set in stone so I don't know if I will keep this new way up, but know that this story is off hold and will be resumed! Thanks for your patience and support! Really appreciate it! **

**Family is Where the Heart is **

Chapter 50

Dean drove down the highway, excited to be driving the Impala again. "Woo!" he yelled out. "Listen to her purr. You ever heard anything so sweet?" Dean asked Sam.

Sam just shook his head at his brother, smiling, "You know, if you two wanna get a room, just let me know, Dean."

"Oh, don't listen to him, baby," Dean assured the car, "he doesn't understand us," and looked up at the rear-view mirror to see Sarah sitting behind him, zoned out on her PSP. "Right, baby girl?"

Sarah wasn't paying her father any attention. She was trying to take her mind off life by killing some zombies. The Winchesters had stayed at Bobby's for almost a month until Dean and Sarah finished rebuilding the Impala and waiting for Sarah's shoulder to heal. Not much had changed though since she and her father had talked. Sarah was still not herself. In fact, she had been itching to get back out there and hunt so badly, she didn't care what it was. Sarah just wanted to kill something and video game zombies weren't cutting it. So when they caught wind of a possible hunt, Sarah immediately agreed.

Sam had scoffed at his brother's enthusiasm. "You're in a good mood."

"Why shouldn't I be?" Dean asked.

"No reason," he shrugged.

"I got my car. My baby girl in the back all healed up, nicely. Got a case. Things are looking up." Dean stared out his window at the passing scenery.

Sam could not believe the sudden change in his brother. Now if only he could see his niece that way. "Wow," he laughed. "Give you a couple of severed heads and a pile of dead cows…and you're Mr. Sunshine."

Dean let out a small snicker, grinning as he stared ahead again. "How far to Red Lodge?"

"Uh," Sam looked over, out the front window, "about another three hundred miles."

"Good," said Dean, wanting to drive for as long as possible. Not only was he excited about how good the Impala was roaring as it drove but it was also because it was something his daughter and him built together. Dean remembered the many times when he was growing up when he and his own father was always working under the hood, fixing it up. That was only doing small things that took a few hours tops. He and Sarah actually redid everything, from the engine to the rims on the wheels and Dean was loving every moment of it. The Impala wasn't just his anymore, it was Sarah's, too and he had already given her, her first lesson of driving it. Of course, Sarah had to sit on his lap but it was something.

Upon arriving in town, the Winchesters spoke to the sheriff about what they knew first. It didn't really help and Sam got a little uncomfortable and creeped out as he noticed his niece seeming to enjoy how the sheriff was explaining how a cow drops dead.

When they were outside again, Sam noted, "Peanut, you defiantly scare me, sometimes."

Sarah just shrugged.

They headed over to the morgue where Dean got the head mortician out before they got started looking over the body and the severed head.

"All right, open it," Dean nodded up at Sam.

Sam looked back at his brother like he was nuts. "You open it," he replied.

Dean sighed and lifted the box with the head inside, "You wuss," and carried it over to an examining table. He flipped the lid off as Sarah was pulling a step stool over so she could see, as well. A strong smell hit their nostrils. Dean turned the box around and stared down at the lifeless head.

Sam walked over still putting his own gloves on.

"Well, no pentagram," Dean shrugged.

"Wow," said Sam, staring at it. "Poor girl."

"Maybe we should, uh, look in her mouth. See if those wackos stuffed anything down her throat. You know, kind of like the moth in _Silence of the Lambs_," he suggested.

"Great movie, by the way," Sarah pointed out.

Sam pushed the box over to Dean, "Yeah, yeah. Go ahead."

"No, you go ahead." Dean pushed it back to him.

"What?" Sam asked of him.

"Put the lotion in the basket," he smiled at his brother, trying to keep a straight face.

"Right, yeah, I'm the wuss, huh."

"Oh for Pete's sake." Sarah grabbed onto the edge of the box and pulled it over towards her. She then stuck her gloved fingers in its mouth and pushed open, examining it, closely.

"That's my girl," Dean praised but got a look that said, and I'm supposed to be the kid?

Sarah continued to look inside the mouth until she noticed holes alongside the gums. "Dad, Uncle Sammy, check this out."

"You want me to throw up, don't you," Sam told her.

Sarah pulled her hands back and dropped them at her side, on the table, leaning on them. "You have seen many things in your life and have killed a lot of monsters, seeing blood and guts spill out, and you're worried about looking inside a freakin' vampire's mouth?" she questioned of her uncle.

Dean looked alarmed. "Vampire?" he questioned, too.

Sarah looked back down and lifted the head's upper lip, pushing on the gums. A porcelain white fang popped out.

"A retractable set of vampire teeth," Dean realized. "You gotta be kidding me."

"Well, this changes things," said Sam.

Dean looked at his brother, "You think?"

Sarah was biting her lower lip, starting to suck on it as she stared at the head. Why did it happen to be a vampire? Why? Yes, she wanted something to kill but why vampires? Vampires were the first hunt she went on with her grandfather and it didn't help that it was barely a little over a month ago. She didn't cry though. Even though her father said it was good to cry, Sarah was actually all cried out now. She was way passed that stage. Now, she just held what was left, in.

The Winchesters headed over the local tavern that night. Once they were inside, Dean wrapped his right arm around his daughter, protectively as they walked up to the bar.

"How's it going?" Dean greeted the bartender.

"Living the dream," he said. "What can I get for you?"

"Two beers and a ginger ale, please." Dean unhooked his arm so he could take out his wallet.

"So we're looking for some people," Sam began as the bartender turned to fish out the drinks for them.

The bartender scoffed, "Sure. It's hard to be lonely."

Sam half smiled and shared a look with his brother. "Yeah, but that's not what I meant," and unfolded a fifty dollar bill, setting it on the counter. The bartender looked at before he grabbed it. "Great, so these people, they would have moved here about six months ago. Probably pretty rowdy, like to drink."

"Yeah, real night owls, you know," Dean added, putting his beer to his lips. "Sleep all day, party all night."

"Barker Farm got leased out a couple months ago," he said. "Real winners. They've been in here a lot. Drinkers. Noisy. I've had to eighty-six them once or twice."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks between them before Dean thanked the bartender. They each took one last swig of their drinks, including Sarah before turning around to leave the bar, getting a suspicion they were being watched. The Winchesters headed outside and around back, splitting up. When a guy came around the corner, they jumped him, pinning him to the wall.

"Smile," Dean ordered the guy.

"What?" he questioned.

"Show us those pearly whites."

"Oh for the love of…" Dean pushed the knife closer to his throat. Sarah looked as if she was rearing to take the guy down, right then and there. "You want to stick that thing somewhere else? I'm not a vampire."

Sarah perked up when she heard him mention vampires. Was he another hunter? The curiosity fueled her attention.

"Yeah, that's right," he continued, staring at Dean. "I heard you guys in there."

"What do you know about vampires?" Sam asked of him.

The guy looked over at him with just his eyes, "How to kill them. Now, seriously, bro, that knife's making me itch." There was a moment of silence before he tried to break his arm free from the boys.

"Hey!" Sam said.

"Woah, easy there, Chachi," he told him and slowly raised it to lift his upper lip, showing them that he wasn't indeed a vampire. "See? Fangless. Happy?"

It actually disappointed Sarah that he wasn't. She wanted to slaughter something soon before she exploded in anxiousness.

Sam and Dean took a step back, next to Sarah.

"Now, who the hell are you?" the guy demanded.

"None of your business, pal," Sarah told him, coldly which she felt her father place a hand on her shoulder, letting her know to take it easy before he introduced the three of them. Turns out, the guy's name was Gordon.

Gordon took the small family over to where he had his car parked to show them his arsenal. "Sam and Dean Winchester. I can't believe it," he smiled at them. You know, I met your old man once. Hell of a guy. Great hunter."

Sarah looked up him, slowly. So, he knew her grandfather, huh? Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

"I heard he passed. I'm sorry."

Sam and Dean nodded, not saying a word. Dean stared down at the ground.

"Big shoes," Gordon continued. "But from what I hear, you guys fill them. Even this little one here."

Sarah glared up at him at that, "Who you calling little?" she threatened.

"You, shorty," he replied.

"You know, I can have you down on your knees like that," and Sarah snapped her fingers to prove her point.

Dean grabbed the back of her new leather jacket, well, new to her anyway, and yanked her back, to bend over and whispered to her, "Next chance we get, you're over my knee. Don't think I forgot what I said, two weeks ago at the roadhouse." He let go and stood back up, apologizing to Gordon for his daughter. "You seem to know a lot about our family."

"Word travels fast. Just picked up word there was a new Winchester in the gig. You know how hunters talk."

"No, we don't actually," he said, looking over at Sam, who was staring at the guy.

"Guess there's a lot your dad never told you, huh?"

Dean looked back at him, raising his head.

"So, um," Sam began, and shifted his weight on his feet. "So those two vampires, they were yours."

"Yup. Been here two weeks," Gordon smiled.

"Check out that Barker farm?" Dean asked.

"It's a bust. Just a bunch of hippie freaks. Though they could kill you with that patchouli smell alone."

He shrugged, "Where's the nest, then?"

Gordon retracted his weapon arsenal back into his car. "I got this one covered. Look, don't get me wrong, it's a real pleasure meeting you fellas. But I've been on this thing for over a year. I killed a fang back in Austin, tracked the nest all the way up here. I'll finish it."

Sarah shrugged, "We could help you. A team is better than one."

"Thanks," he told her. "But I'm kind of a go-it-alone type of guy."

Dean smiled, "Come on, man. I've been itching for a hunt."

"Me, too," Sarah chimed in.

"Sorry," he said. "But, hey, I hear there's a chupacabra two states over. Go ahead and knock yourselves out." Gordon then got into his car. Looking back, he said, "It was real good meeting you, though. I'll buy you a drink on the flip side," and started the engine, driving away.

The Winchesters watched him leave before exchanging more looks between each other. But none of them took no for an answer and before anyone knew it they had hurried over to where Gordon was taking on a vampire at a warehouse where he was on his back with the vampire over him.

Sam pulled Gordon away from a motorized saw while Dean and Sarah charged over and took care of the vampire. Sarah had him, knocked off his feet as he and Dean went at it, and repeatedly punched the vampire in the face, not taking it easy in the slightest. All that was pent up was released into every single punch.

Dean ordered his daughter to move before dealing the final blow, sawing off the vampire's head as blood splattered all over his face. Sarah watched it like a kid on Saturday morning, watching cartoons and Dean felt like one on Christmas morning. He stood up and looked over at the others.

"So, uh, I guess I gotta buy you that drink," Gordon told him and let out a scoff that said, amazing.


	52. Chapter 51

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 51

The Winchesters and Gordon sat in the bar, having a few drinks. Well, Dean and Gordon were. Sarah ordered a ginger ale. Gordon insisting on paying for everyone and toasted to another vampire dead, clinking it against Dean's, and followed by Sarah's who wanted to be a part of it.

Sam sat back, not saying a word.

"Dean," Gordon began after he chugged down his shot and chuckled. "You gave that big-ass fang one hell of a haircut, my friend.

Dean thanked him.

"That was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. And Sarah," he gave a whistle, "Man, I wouldn't believe you were just a kid. I take back the "short" jokes I said."

Sarah grinned from ear to ear at him, looking at her father before returning back to the hunter. "I take back the threat too. Sorry, man."

"It's okay," Gordon told her.

Sam couldn't believe his niece wasn't picking up on the same vibe he was getting from this so-called hunter. Usually she was the one who picked it up before him, but Sarah was acting like she didn't feel anything.

Dean took another drink of his beer, noticing his brother was staring off into space, not saying anything. "You all right, Sammy?" he asked inside his drink.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sam told him, quietly.

"Well, lighten up a little, Sammy," Gordon told him.

Sam shook his head towards his brother and niece, "They're the only ones who get to call me that," he responded, defensively.

Gordon looked between the brothers. "Okay. No offense meant. Just celebrating a little. Job well done."

"Right, well, decapitations aren't my idea of a good time, I guess."

"Oh, come on, man," said Gordon. "It's not like it was human. You gotta have a little more fun with your job."

"Yeah, Uncle Sammy. Lighten up, would ya," Sarah told her uncle cheerfully. Sarah didn't know where this sudden cheerful disposition came from or if it was because she was finally able to hunt again. All she knew was that her and her father took on a vampire and won.

Sam looked over at his niece, trying to figure out this sudden change. Don't get him wrong he was glad to see Sarah smile again. It just didn't feel right around this guy.

Dean snapped his fingers, "See, that's what I've been trying to tell him." He looked over at his brother again, "You could learn a thing or two from this guy."

Sam looked at his brother as Dean took another drink then looked between the three of them. "Yeah, I bet I could," he nodded at his brother and made to stand up. "Look, I'm not gonna bring you guys down and Sarah shouldn't be in a bar in the first place. I'll take her back to the motel"

Sarah looked between her uncle and father.

Dean wiped under his right eye with his hand, "You sure?"

"Yeah," said Sam.

"I want to stay with Dad," Sarah objected to her uncle.

"A bar is no place for an eight-year-old kid, Peanut. Let's go."

"Since when? I've been coming in bars for the past year and it's not like I'm drinking." Sarah turned to her father for support. "Dad, can't I stay? Please?"

Sam gave an annoyed sigh.

"Come on, let the kid stay," Gordon told him.

He looked at the man, coldly but did not say anything. Instead, Sam turned back to his niece. "Let's go, Sarah."

Finally, Dean spoke up. "Sarah's fine, Sam. She can stay if she wants to. At least she knows how to have a good time."

Sam looked up, towards the ceiling, his frustration at record height now. "Seriously?" But he just left it at that and walked away.

Dean stopped him, pulling out the keys to the Impala. "Remind me to beat that buzz kill out of you later, all right?" and tossed the keys over his head which Sam caught in one hand before walking away again.

"Something I said?" Gordon asked when he was gone.

"Ah, no, he just gets that way sometimes," Dean assured him. "Tell you what…" He picked up his shot glass. "…match quarters for the next round." Dean looked at his daughter. "Want some more ginger ale, baby girl?"

Sarah nodded, "Yes, please."

"Polite kid you got there," Gordon complimented once they ordered their next round.

Dean shrugged, "Sarah's other family is very proper, I guess you can say."

Both men took their shots.

Soon, Dean was telling a story about when he was sixteen, hunting a werewolf. "I'm sitting there and I'm looking into the fire and I'm thinking to myself," he told them, "I'm sixteen year old. Kids my age are worried about pimples, prom dates. I'm seeing things that they'll never even know. Never even dream of." He stared at the center of the table before he snapped out of it. "So right then, I just sort of…"

"Embraced the life?" asked Gordon, finishing for him.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Yeah."

Dean looked away, "Yeah. How'd you get started?" he asked, before taking another drink of his beer.

Gordon was looking downward. "First time I saw a vampire I was barely eighteen. Home alone with my sister. I hear the window break in her room. I grab my dad's gun, run in. Try to get it off her. It was too late. So I shoot the damn thing...which is about useful as snapping it with a rubber band. It rushes me, picks me up, and flings me across the room…" He looked away, across the bar before looking back. "…Knocks me out cold. When I wake up…the vampire's gone…my sister's gone."

Sarah was listening, intently to the story. "What happened then?" she asked him.

He was staring downward again. "Then….Try explaining that one to your family."

She and Dean nodded. "Try explaining anything to your family," Sarah added, thinking about the Holden family she still hasn't called yet. That was the last thing on her mind and she really didn't want to have to deal with them at that point.

"So I left home," he continued. "And then bummed around, looking for information. How you track them, how you kill them. And I found that fang. It was my first kill."

Dean raised his glass towards him, "Sorry about your sister."

"Yeah. She was beautiful. I can still see her, you know? The way she was." Gordon took a drink and sighed. "But, hey. That was a long time ago. He turned to look over at Sarah. "What about you, Sarah. When was your breaking point?" Gordon asked her.

Sarah thought on that, staring inside her glass again. She could feel both set of eyes on her. "The day Dad came and got me from my grandparents, I kind of already knew what he did for a living. My first hunt was a skinwalker and I guess you can say, I barely got my feet wet with that one. Even though I've been doing this for a year, I think it was back in May when I had almost lost Dad for the second time is when I finally embraced what it was I was doing. I…I don't know, it just…felt like this was what I was born to do. That it was something I had to do." Sarah looked up at her father. "I still mean it, Dad about having to protect you."

Dean let out a small grin and reached over to grip the back of her neck. "Same here, baby girl."

Sarah continued, "Then when Grandpa… All I want to do now is hunt and nothing else."

"Yeah, that's gotta be rough what happened to him," Gordon nodded between the two of them.

"Yeah," both of them replied. Dean barely glanced up but that was more than what Sarah did. She didn't look up at all.

"Yeah, you know," said Dean, touching his right ear, "he was just one of those guys. Took some terrible beatings…and just kept coming. So you're always saying to yourself, you know, he's indestructible. He'll always be around. Nothing can kill my dad. And just like that." He snaps his fingers, "He's gone." Dean took a deep breath in. "In the beginning sometime after I got Sarah, I started telling her stories about her grandfather and I think that's what hurts her the most about all this. Am I right, baby girl?"

Sarah nodded at her glass. "I started fantasizing about him. Then when I finally met Grandpa and finally got to hunt with him, it felt great. Almost as great as hunting with my dad, you know. I loved it."

He looked back at Gordon, "Can't talk about this to Sammy," and he gave a silent chuckle. "You know, I gotta keep my game face on."

"Uncle Sammy wouldn't probably understand," she said.

"Wouldn't it be harder to say this in front of your kid?" asked Gordon, confused why he was so open with his young daughter but not his brother.

Dean shrugged, "I don't know. I guess it's because there's no hiding anything from this kid." He forced a smile. "I swear it feels like this kid has me figured out in the whole year she's known me than my own brother has, the past twenty-two years. Like she's a clone of me or something. Sarah is the only one who knows I'm not handling it very well. It feels like I have this…"

Sarah had finally looked up at her father when Gordon made her, sharply turn her head. "Hole inside you?" he asked, finishing for her father again.

Dean stared at the hunter.

"And it just gets bigger and bigger and darker and darker?"

He continued to stare at him, shocked how he could know how they were feeling inside, especially Dean.

"Good," Gordon said. "You can use it. Keeps you hungry." Gordon paused for a second before continuing. "Trust me, there's plenty out there needs killing and this'll help you do it. Dean, it's not a crime to need your job."

Sarah looked over at her father, who was still staring at Gordon, letting everything sink in. She looked back down at her glass again. Sarah didn't like this feeling she had nor did she want it. In fact, she hated it and hoped getting back into hunting would rid her of this feeling. Now, she's not so sure.

Eventually, the bar grew quiet as people left. It was getting late and Sarah was growing bored as her father and Gordon kept talking and made her way over to crawl into Dean's lap, snuggling up there. She laid her head on his right arm that he kept on the arm of the chair.

Dean lifted his right arm to raise her head towards him to kiss the side of Sarah's forehead. "Tired, baby girl?" he asked her.

Sarah shook her head, trying to deny it as she tried to stifle a yawn. She laid there listening to Gordon talk on about the hunting business being black and white and all this other crap and her father say how her uncle wouldn't agree. Gordon said that he wasn't wrong, he was just different. Sarah didn't like how Gordon was talking about her uncle that way. Gordon didn't know anything about him, so why should he judge him that way. And why wasn't Dean saying anything to defend his brother?

Sarah was so deep in thought she hadn't realized she had been squeezing her father's whist that was draped around her. Dean looked down at her, "Sarah, easy. What's gotten into you?"

Sarah snapped out of her thoughts and realized what she had been doing. She let go of his arm. "Sorry, Dad," she told him, silently.

"It's okay, baby girl," he assured her. "We're gonna be leaving in a little bit. Okay?"

She nodded, staring under the table.

Dean took her hand in his and kissed it, smiling at her.

Gordon was spectating from his side of the table. "It's weird to see you the warm, fatherly type after killing that vampire. If you're not careful, you could get too soft. A hunter has to be thick-skinned all the time. He can't soften his guard for anyone."

Dean looked back at the hunter with a questionable look on his face. He was starting to rethink this guy's attitude already. "I used to be thick-skinned all the time, never letting anyone in. Then I became a father. I'm not reading fairy tales and kissing boo-boos, but even I know when it's good to just hold my little girl."

Gordon shrugged, "Maybe you're not the hunter I thought you were."

"Maybe, maybe not," Dean shrugged in return.

When the men were finally ready to leave, Dean and Sarah hitched a ride with Gordon to the motel the Winchesters were staying at. When Dean opened the door, Sam was nowhere to be found.

The men sat at the table in the motel room with a map of the area spread out in front of them as Sarah leaned on the table between them. It was getting later and later and Sam still wasn't back yet.

"Car's parked outside," Gordon was saying as he looked out the window. "Probably went for a walk. Seems like the take-a-walk type."

Sarah glared at him. More and more he judged her uncle, the more he was moving from her good list to her hated list. "Can you stop, please?" she asked, trying to sound the nicest as she possibly could.

He looked at her. "Stop what?" he asked.

"Just because my uncle Sam isn't the hunter you are, doesn't mean you can judge him like that."

"Sarah, take it easy. It's okay," Dean tried to tell her as the door opened behind him and Sam wandered in.

Sarah hurried over to her uncle and hugged his legs. Sam was taught off guard of her since he noticed Gordon was there, first.

"Where you been?" Dean asked of him.

Sam nodded towards the door, "Can I talk to you alone?"

Dean looked back at Gordon. "You mind chilling out for a couple minutes?"

Gordon was staring up at Sam and shook his head, grinning.

The Winchesters headed outside, to the parking lot.

"Dean, maybe we ought to rethink this hunt," Sam began looking around.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "Where were you?"

Sam scoffed, "In the nest."

Dean couldn't believe it. "You found it?"

"They found me, man."

"Wha…" Dean stopped in mid-sentence. "How'd you get out? How many did you kill?"

Sam shrugged, "None."

"None," Sarah questioned.

"They didn't just let you go," Dean added.

Sam smiled and stopped walking, "That's exactly what they did."

"All right, well, where is it?"

Sam put his hands on his side, "I was blindfolded. I don't know."

"You gotta know something."

"We went over that bridge, outside of town. But Dean, listen. Maybe we shouldn't go after them," he said.

"Why not?" Sarah asked.

"I don't think they're like other vampires," Sam explained. "I don't think they're killing people."

Dean stared at his brother like he was crazy, "You're joking." When Sam didn't respond, he added, "Then how do they stay alive or undead, whatever the hell they are?"

"The cattle mutilations," he said. "They live off of animal blood."

"And you believed them?"

Sam spread his arms out to the sides, "Look at me, Dean" and scoffed. "They let me go without a scratch."

"Doesn't the bite take a while before it affects its victim?" Sarah asked.

"But there's no bite on me is what I'm telling you, Peanut," he told her.

"Wait, so you're saying…" Dean was finding it hard to figure out what the heck was going on. Vampires good? Was it the end of the world or something?

Sam raised his eyebrows at him, grinning.

"No man. No way. I don't know why they let you go. I don't really care. We find them and we waste them." Dean then stormed away.

"Why?" Sam asked him and followed after him.

Dean stopped and turned back around to face his brother. "What part of vampire don't you understand, Sam? If it's supernatural, we kill it. That's our job."

"No, Dean, that's not our job," Sam argued. "Our job is hunting evil and if these things aren't killing, they're not evil."

"Of course they're killing people," he argued back. "That's what they do. They're all the same, Sam. They're not human, okay? We have to exterminate every last one of them."

Sarah was volleying her head back and forth between her father and uncle. She could see Sam growing frustrated as he held his hands over his eyes.

"No Dean. I don't think so, all right," he told his brother. "Not this time."

"Gordon's been on those vamps for a year," Dean pointed out. "He knows."

"Gordon?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah," he replied.

"You're taking his word for it?"

Dean nodded once, "That's right."

"Ellen says he's bad news."

Sarah perked up at the mention of their new ally.

"You called Ellen?" Dean questioned this time.

Sam nodded.

"And I'm supposed to listen to her? We barely even know her."

Sarah spoke up again at that point. "I trust her," she said.

Sam and Dean looked down at the little girl.

"If Miss Ellen says Gordon's bad news then I believe her."

Sam smiled down at his niece as she looked up at her father. It felt good having, at least one person on his side.

Sarah continued, "Besides, it's the same with Gordon. You barely know him, too. What's different from listening to him and not her?"

"It's a substitute for our dad, Sarah," Sam realized and shrugged, "a poor one."

She looked over at her uncle, then back at her father who was looking off to the side, smiling like Sam was crazy and walked away.

Sam followed after him. "He's not even close, Dean," he told his brother. "Not even on his best day."

Dean stopped and turned around again, holding his hands up. "You know what, I'm not gonna talk about it…" he began.

Sarah hurried over to them. "Dad, is it true?" she asked.

"No, of course not, baby girl," he tried to assure his daughter. "Gordon's just another hunter we're working with."

Sam was shaking his head at his brother while Sarah could see right through her father. She missed her grandfather so much and she knew Dean missed him twice as much, but even Sarah knew you couldn't fill the hole inside of them with just anyone. It was an insult to his memory. Sam said the exact same thing she was thinking, too before Dean suddenly winded back and slugged Sam in the face.

Sarah quickly jumped between the men. "You can't be mad at Uncle Sam, Dad, for saying how he feels."

Dean stared down at his daughter. "Why not?" he asked.

"Because it's true, that's why," she told him. "I told you, Dad. I miss Grandpa, too but he still lives on in us. He lives in you, he lives in Uncle Sam. Boy does he live in Uncle Sam.

Sam cleared his throat, loudly for Sarah to move on and get to the point.

"Even when our heroes die, their memory lives on. Yeah, it hurts like hell having Grandpa gone but transferring everything over to Gordon just because he gets our feelings right isn't going to help any. Having a hole in our heart is normal when we lose a loved one. I mean, I was wrong after all that Uncle Sam understood us."

Dean stood there. He tried to tune out what his daughter was saying because he knew she was right, but it wasn't easy ignoring his little girl. So instead, he walked away again. Inside the motel, they noticed Gordon was gone and the keys missing as well.

As Sam looked up the directions to the vampires' farm, Dean gave his daughter her next lesson in cars: When there's no key, hot wire it, and showed her how. Once Sam figured out how to get there, they were off.

After a moment of silence, Sam looked up from the map, straight ahead before looking back over his left shoulder at his niece. "Were you just quoting _The Lion King _back there, Peanut?"

Sarah was staring out her window on her father's side. She looked over at her uncle and said, "Maybe."

Sam couldn't help but laugh to himself.

She asked, "What?"

"What is it with you and Disney flixs?"

Sarah looked at her uncle like it was obvious. "Hello? I am a kid, you know."

"Yeah, but kids don't quote movies the way you do…" Sam stopped himself, remembering his niece wasn't like other kids and apologized, mentally calling himself an idiot. Talk about a brain fart. How hard did Dean hit him, exactly?


	53. Chapter 52

**I just decided to upload twice in a row since I was wrapping up this episode. **

**Just a note to point out, I have gone through second two, deciding on what episodes to do and skip. Season two has a lot of plot in pretty much every episode and it looks like I can't skip like I did for season one, and three and on may be like that, too. So I am gonna try something different. Instead of skipping an entire episode now and then, I may just run through a hunt, stopping at scenes I deem important to the plot or if its humorous and I want to use it in the story. I won't do that for every hunt though or the story might get boring. I have found a way around the end of season two of why Dean makes the deal but I'll leave it at that ;)**

**One more thing, I'd been thinking about. The vampire, Eli in this episode, isn't that Benny later on in season eight? **

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 52

On the way to the Vampires' nest, everything was quiet. No one spoke a word. Sarah glanced over to see Sam stealing a look at Dean but none of them didn't say anything. She looked down and pulled out the photo again, staring at it even though she could barely see it. _Wish you were here, Grandpa. We could sure use your help_, Sarah thought to herself. Then she wondered who's side John would even take, Dean's or Sam's on whether or not these vampires should be killed or not.

Before she knew it, her father was pulling up to the nest and the three of them jumped out, going inside where they found one of the vampires sitting there, bloody and tied down. Gordon was standing next to her, holding a knife.

"Sam, Dean, Sarah," he told them, "come on in."

Sarah was looking over at the vampire. Now that her uncle had told them the vampires weren't actually killing people, she was feeling a little remorse towards the girl and her soft heart was getting the best of her. "What's going on here?" she asked Gordon, confused as well. Why was he torturing her?

"Just poisoning Lenore here with some dead man's blood," he said like it was no big deal and a smile on his face. "She's gonna tell us where all her little friends are."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks between them as Sarah told him, "But Uncle Sam says they're not killing anyone so maybe we should let her and the rest of them go."

Gordon laughed at that. "You're kidding, right? They're monsters. Of course they're killing people."

She shook her head, "No, no they're not. They let him go without a scratch. What vampire do you know that does something like that?"

"Look, obviously you're just some little, snot-nose kid after all, so why don't you run along and play Barbies or have a tea party while the grown-ups take care of some business." Gordon looked over at Dean, "Come on, Dean. Want to help?"

"Look, man…" Dean didn't like how he was speaking to his daughter. "Don't talk to her that way."

Gordon shrugged at him, "It was my mistake. When I saw her with that other vampire I thought she a natural-born hunter but if she can easily be manipulated like any other kid, she's just baggage. A hunter can't be held down, you know."

Sarah made to run over to sock him where the sun doesn't shine until Dean held her back, shoving her towards his brother as he glared at Gordon. "Don't ever call my kid, baggage," he told him.

"Hey, man. Cool it, I'm sorry, okay. Looks like I crossed a line there," he replied. "You're gonna help me or not? I was just about to start in on the fingers." Gordon ran the knife he was holding along Lenore's left arm. The dead man's blood coursed through her veins, poisoning her some more.

"Woah, hey, maybe you should chill out there, huh," Dean told him.

He shook his head, "I'm completely chill."

Sam was holding his niece's shoulders, standing behind her. "Gordon, put the knife down," he told the hunter.

"Sounds like its Sammy who needs to chill."

"Just step away from her, all right?" Sam said, as calmly as he could.

Lenore was starting to gasp for breath. Gordon looked down at her then back at the Winchesters. "You're right," he finally said, tossing the knife onto the table. "I'm wasting my time here. This bitch'll never talk." Gordon went into his bag and pulled out an even bigger knife, examining it, "Might as well put her out of her misery" and looked over at Sam and Sarah. "I just sharpened it so it's completely humane."

"What's so humane about killing someone that doesn't deserve to be killed?" Sarah demanded of him.

"She's not human, kid," Gordon reminded her. "She's just a monster."

"You're the monster, maybe we should kill you," she said, coldly towards him.

"Right, well I would like to see that," he smiled at her.

Sarah just glared at him and tried to step forward to untie Lenore. She stopped, abruptly when Gordon pointed the blade at her. "I'm not touching you, I'm untying the girl," she told him.

"You're not doing anything," Gordon said, the blade inches from her face.

Dean stepped around the table, quickly pulling his daughter back, towards him. "Let's talk about this, Gordon," he said, eyeing the guy.

"What's there to talk about?" asked Gordon, lowering the knife. "It's like I said, Dean, no shades of gray."

Dean tightened his grip more than Sam was on Sarah's shoulders, staring at Gordon, "Yeah, I hear you. And I know how you feel."

"Do you?"

"That vampire who killed your sister deserved to die," he said. "But this…"

Gordon laughed. "Killed my sister? That filthy fang didn't kill my sister. It turned her. Made her one of them. So I hunted her down and I killed her myself."

Sarah couldn't believe what she just heard. "You did what?"

"It wasn't my sister anymore," he said. "It wasn't human. I didn't blink. And neither would you." Gordon pointed the blade at each of them, including Sarah.

Sarah started struggling in her father's hold, trying to break free. Hate and anger were rising up, inside of her. If Gordon wasn't on her hate list yet, this right here did it. How could a person be so heartless as to go through the trouble of hunting down their sister and killing her without hesitation?

"So you knew all along then?" Sam asked Gordon. "You knew about the vampires. You knew they weren't killing anyone. You knew about the cattle and you just didn't care."

It was finally sinking into Dean's mind about Gordon.

"Care about what?" Gordon questioned him. "A nest of vampires suddenly acting nice? Taking a little time-out from sucking innocent people and we're supposed to buy that? Trust me. Doesn't change what they are," he looked back at Lenore then returned his attention to the Winchesters. "And I can prove it."

He socked Dean to the floor, unexpectedly and grabbed Sarah up, holding a death grip on her. Sarah struggled against him, kicking him madly but Gordon just kept a firm grip on her.

Dean jumped back to his feet, holding out his gun, cocking it. "Let her go," he threatened the hunter. "Now!"

"Relax. If I wanted to kill her, she'd be on the floor. Just making a little point," Gordon told him and walked backwards, towards Lenore. He then sliced across Sarah's right hand over the vampire, letting the blood from the cut drip down. It landed on Lenore's cheek and upper lip.

Dean never lowered his gun, every instinct telling him to shoot as his little girl cried out while the knife cut into her hand.

Once the blood dripped down, Lenore's second set of teeth came out as she snarled for more. Sarah was blinded in fear that she hadn't realized she could use her preferred signature move on him.

"Hey!" Dean yelled again.

"Think she's so different?" Gordon asked Sarah, holding her firmly still and looked over at Sam and Dean. "Still wanna save her? Look at her."

Dean looked at Lenore, thinking it over.

"They're all the same," Gordon continued. "Evil. Bloodthirsty."

Sarah suddenly realized and shoved her heel right into his groin, putting all her strength into that one kick. Gordon dropped her as he keeled over in pain, kneeling to the floor. Sarah didn't stop there though. She got into a fighting stance and punched him in the side of the face.

"That's enough, Sarah," Dean told her when she was to throw another one, his gun lowered a little.

Sarah backed away, keeping an eye on Gordon, who was wiping blood from his mouth.

"Sam, get the girl out of here," he said, meaning Lenore, who had receded her fangs, trying to refuse the temptation.

Sam walked over and untied Lenore, lifting her up into his arms, and carried her out of the room.

Gordon stood up, "Uh-uh, uh-uh," he objected.

Dean pointed his gun at him, "I think you and I have some things to talk about," he told Gordon. "Sarah, go help Sam."

"But…" Sarah tried to object, wanting another whack at Gordon.

"Go, Sarah Lynn," he told her, sternly.

Sarah reluctantly followed after her uncle, getting the door for him. The two of them made sure all the vampires got out of town all right before heading back to the nest, to check on how Dean and Gordon was doing.

Gordon was tied to a chair, looking pissed while Dean stood there, watching him.

"We miss anything?" Sam asked his brother.

"Ah, not much," replied Dean. "Lenore get out okay?"

Sam stared at Gordon, "Yeah. All of them did."

Gordon stared back up at him, not saying anything.

"Then I guess our work here is done," said Dean. To Gordon, he told him, "How you doing, Gordy? You gotta tinkle yet?"

No response.

He walked over to Gordon's other side, "All right then. Well, get comfy. We'll call someone in two or three days, have them come out, untie you." Dean stuck the knife he was holding into the table.

"Ready to go, Dean?" Sam asked.

"Not yet," he replied and looked at Sarah, who was fuming at the guy, looking like she wanted to hit him again. What the heck, she earned it. "Want to do the honor, baby girl?"

"If you mean hit him, then yes. More than anything, right now," she said, not taking her eyes off Gordon.

"Go right ahead then," he grinned.

Sarah winded her right fist back and punched Gordon in the side of the face, using all her strength again. Once the deed was done, the Winchesters then turned to leave.

Outside, Dean stopped. "Sam," he said, feeling antsy.

"Yeah?" he replied, looking back at his brother.

"Clock me one," he told him, preparing for it.

"What?"

"Come on. Come on, I won't even hit you back. Let's go."

Sam scoffed, "No."

Dean clapped his left hand in the other. "Let's go. You get a freebie. Hit me. Come on."

Sam looked away and waved his hand at him, walking towards the Impala. "You look like you went twelve rounds with a block of cement, Dean. I'll take a rain check."

Dean held his hands out, following after him.

"Can I, Dad?" Sarah asked, eager.

"No, you can't hit me," Dean told her, looking back at her as he walked to his side of the Impala. "Did I hit you first?"

"No," she replied, defeated. He did deserve it though after hitting Sam.

"I wish we never took this job," Dean said afterwards, stopping at his door. "It's jacked everything up."

"How do you figure?" Sarah asked, beside him.

Dean thought on it, looking away and then leaned on the roof. "Think about all the hunts we went on, our whole lives," he was looking at Sam.

"Okay," Sam shrugged.

"What if we killed things that didn't deserve killing? I mean, the way Dad raised us… The way I'm raising Sarah."

Sam looked off into the distance. "Dean, after what happened to Mom," he told him. "Dad did the best he could. You're doing the best you can."

Dean looked in the same direction. "I know he did," he said before pausing. "But the man wasn't perfect and I know I'm not. And the way he raised us to hate though things? And man, I hate them. I do. So much, I'm raising my kid the same way. When I killed that vampire at the mill… I didn't even think about it. Hell, I even enjoyed it."

Sam shrugged, "You didn't kill Lenore."

"Well, every instinct told me to. I was gonna kill her, kill them all."

"Yeah, Dean, but you didn't," said Sam. "And that's what matters."

Dean looked down for a second before looking away again, "Yeah. And because you're a pain in my ass."

Sam laughed at that. "Guess I might have to stick around and be a pain in the ass, then." He then opened his door and was about to get in when Dean told him, thanks. Sam smiled at him. "Don't mention it." Sam moved again to get in when Dean stopped him once more.

"By the way, you're in back, this time," he said and nodded his head towards Sarah. "Sarah's riding shotgun for a while."

Sarah brightened up upon hearing she had shotgun, "Really?"

Dean nodded, moving over to open his door to let Sarah climb in and stood there, looking in the opposite direction, this time. Sam had shut the door and opened the back one, getting into the backseat. Dean was staring back at the house that Gordon was still tied up in. He stood there in thought for a long time, just leaning on the roof of the Impala.


	54. Chapter 53

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 53

Darkness. Fire. It was everywhere. Bloodcurdling and heart-wrenching screams could be heard echoing throughout as slashing and tearing were heard, and bodies lay about in pieces then reform together as if by magic. John hung there, broken, bloody, and torn, by chains. He screamed out as some hideous creature tore at his mangled body, his eyes shut tight.

"De…an… Sam… Sar…ah… Mary…" he moaned, trying to take his mind away from the excruciating pain that was so unbearable, no one would ever wish it on their most hated enemy. His fingers twitched as they hung, limply. Just when you think it's over, there another jolt of pain as his insides are ripped out as John screamed out to be heard a million miles away.

Suddenly, Sarah bolted out of a sound sleep, breathing like she just ran a marathon.

"You okay, baby girl?" Dean asked beside her, concern on his face.

Sarah looked around. She was still riding shotgun. The bright sun shined through the windshield as she quickly wiped the sweat from her face with her arm. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay, Dad."

Sam spoke up from the backseat, "Was it another vision?"

Sarah didn't answer. _Not again!_ She thought. Besides visions of the past and yet to come, occasionally Sarah could see into hell and see souls being tortured. It was rare and it's been a long time since she had last had one like the one she just had but it does happen and scares the crap out of her.

Dean was trying to juggle the road and his daughter at the same time. "What was it you saw?" he asked.

She looked out the side window. "Nothing," she told him.

"Nothing?" he questioned. "Trust me, Sarah. I know that was not nothing. Now tell me what you saw? Was it the demon? Or is someone gonna die? What?"

Sarah snapped back around, "I said it was nothing, okay!" She looked away again, slowly. "I don't want to talk about it."

Sam and Dean exchanged glances with each other. Finally, Dean had pulled up to a cemetery and turned off the engine while Sam stepped out.

"Still coming, Peanut?" Sam asked his niece who was just sitting there, staring at all the headstones.

Sarah nodded and opened her door, shutting it before following her uncle over to her grandmother's headstone. It felt strange coming to a cemetery without having to burn any bones. The last time Sarah had a friendly visit to a grave was two days before her father picked her up. Her grandparents wanted to visit both their children's graves, bringing Sarah along. That was actually the day Sarah first saw Bobby. She had happened to look over and notice an older man, kneeled beside a headstone, placing flowers in front of it. Sarah never expected to see him two days later which was why she was surprised to see him that day.

The Holdens had family all over South Dakota but Milbank and Sioux Falls were the main parts where the family was from. Greg was originally from Sioux Falls but moved to Milbank where he met his wife, who was born and raised there. They were disappointed when Emily wanted to go to school all the way in California but since it was a full ride for her, they decided to be proud for her instead. Sarah had wished they could be proud for her, at least once but gave up when John told her he was proud of her, adding another layer to why he was her favorite grandfather. They were surprised when they found out Emily had decided to sleep with someone she just met in the first place, telling her it was against how they had raised her. Sarah only knew all about this from reading Emily's diary.

Sarah sat on her legs on Sam's left after placing a wrapped up flower on the ground front of the headstone as she watched him dig a hole in the ground with a knife, and placed two dog tags of John's into it, before refilling the hole. "What was that?" she asked him, curious.

"They belonged to your grandfather," he explained. "I figured he would want your grandmother to have them. They're ID tags from when he served in the Marines."

She looked at him, surprised. "Grandpa was a Marine?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, he was."

Sarah looked over at her grandmother's headstone. _Mary Winchester1954-1983_, it read. _In Loving Memory_. She sat there, staring at it for a moment. "Uncle Sam, can I ask you something?"

Sam had been sitting there in thought, staring at it, too until Sarah snapped him out of it. "Sure, Peanut," he replied.

"If someone says to not tell anyone a secret, you should listen, right? I mean, it's wrong to tell someone else?"

Sam looked down at his niece, unsure why she was asking a random question like that. "Well, it depends on what the secret is. If the secret is harmful, like if the person told you they were going to go jump in front of a bus or shoot themselves or are hurting themselves that would be a secret to tell someone else so they can get help. Otherwise, it would be dishonest to go sharing a secret after that person felt they could trust you enough to tell you."

Sarah was staring at the ground, by now, thinking about what her uncle was saying. She looked up at him, "What if that person is already dead? Is a secret still meant to be kept even if everyone around is hurting from not knowing it?"

"Is this about your grandfather?" asked Sam.

She looked down once more.

He took her silence as a yes. "You do know what happened to him, don't you, Peanut," he said.

Sarah nodded a little.

"Can you tell me?"

This time, she shook her head.

"Peanut, this is one secret you shouldn't keep," he told her.

Sarah did not speak right away. She sat there thinking about it. She could hear her grandfather in her mind, _Do not tell anyone…got it? This is our se… _Sarah understood John was trying to say secret and knew her father wouldn't be able to handle the truth of what he did for him but Sarah hated having to keep quiet and lie to both Dean _and_ Sam. But at the same time, she didn't want to let John down, especially after seeing just what it was he was going through. How can she explain that to them?

"Can I have a few minutes alone, Uncle Sam?" she finally asked. "I mean, when you're done visiting with grandma."

Sam nodded and after another five minutes, left his niece to her own thoughts. Once Sam was out of earshot, Sarah looked back at her grandmother's headstone. "I know you don't know anything about me, Grandma and that you can't hear or answer me, but…I don't know what I should do. Grandpa trusted me to keep the fact he made a deal, a secret. I know that's what he did. Dad came back from the verge of death. Grandpa suddenly died, and now the Colt's gone and the demon was involved. Sounds like a deal to me. But what I don't understand is why didn't Grandpa get ten years like he's supposed to? Why did he suddenly drop dead the very same day? It doesn't make any sense, Grandma, and I've tried to rationalize it in my head a thousand times. The demon cheated him is all I can come up with."

Sarah looked back over her shoulder where her father was talking to an older guy. He then walked over to where Sam was waiting for him by the Impala while he held up something in his hand. Returning to her grandmother's headstone, Sarah continued, "Dad's not taking it at all. He's pretty shaken up about all this. Grandpa was his hero like Dad's mine though." Sarah started picking at the grass. "I don't know. Should I tell him? Or let them figure it out on their own. If they figure it out for themselves then it won't be considered me telling them, right? So I would be honoring Grandpa's dying wish. But, Dad'll be pretty pissed if I don't tell him."

"Peanut, let's go!" Sam called from the Impala. "We gotta go!"

She looked over her left shoulder and stood up, brushing the grass off her jeans. "I love you, Grandma." Sarah then turned and walked away. Even though the two of them never actually met each other, Mary's spirit had saved her, too when Mary was protecting her sons. That in Sarah's book, made her grandmother have a place in her heart. In fact, when Sarah rode with John back when they were heading to Salvation, Iowa, she asked about Mary, asking the usual kid questions. What she was like and if Mary would like her. Sarah wished that car ride had never ended. She wished she had more moments like that.

Dean had discovered a possibility of another hunt when he noticed some dead plants and grass around a recently deceased girl's grave and wanted to check it out. They headed over to the local college and talked to the girl's father who was a professor there. They didn't get that much information from him but Dean was still convinced there was something going on.

After checking into a hotel, Dean looked through his father's journal. "I'm telling you, there's something going on here," he was saying as he skimmed through the pages. "We just haven't found it yet."

Sam was washing his face in the bathroom. He scoffed, "Dean, so far you got a patch of dead grass and nothing."

He looked up from the journal, "Well something turned that grave into unholy ground."

Sam finished drying his face with a towel and turned around to face his brother. "There's no reason for it to be unholy ground. Angela Mason was a nice girl who died in a car crash. That's not really vengeful spirit material. You heard her father."

Sarah was listening from the foot of one of the beds. She threw herself back, still tossing the idea of telling her father and uncle the truth around in her head.

"Yeah, well, maybe Daddy doesn't know everything there is to know about his little angel, huh," Dean replied, walking out of the bathroom doorway.

Sam followed after him, tossing the towel he was using inside the bathroom. "You know what. We never should've bothered that poor man," he said.

Dean looked up at Sam.

Sam shrugged, "We shouldn't even be here anymore."

"So what, Sam?" asked Dean. "We just bail? Without even figuring out what's going on?"

Sarah sat up, looking between them. "Not taking any sides here but we've only talked to one person. Friends usually know more about a person than parents do." She shrugged, "Let's go see if we can find any of them."

Dean looked down at her, "My point exactly, baby girl."

Sam shifted on his feet, looking downward with just his eyes. "I think I know what's going on," he finally said.

Sarah raised an eye brow at her uncle. "Two seconds ago you didn't think there was a hunt," she told him.

"Not about that. I mean with your dad."

Sarah looked at her father then back at Sam.

"It's the only reason I went along with you this far," Sam said.

"What are you talking about?" Dean questioned his brother.

"This is about Mom's grave."

Dean scoffed, looking back down at the bed, pulling out one of Sarah's shirts he found in his duffel bag. He tossed it down at her, "What is your shirt doing in my bag for?"

Sarah almost fell back as she caught it on her head, catching herself in mid-air. "Could be yours," she grinned at him, jokingly after pulling it off.

"Yeah, because I wear a Pokéman shirt," he smiled, sarcastically, in return.

"For the twelve time, it's pronounced Pokémon. Poe-key-mon," she corrected her father.

Dean tries to stay in tune with his daughter's TV shows but now and then, found it hard remembering how it was pronounced. It didn't mean he was doing it on purpose. The only Pokémon he actually had down was Pikachu but Sarah knew he was making an effort to try. Her mother and her parents were one of those who thought Pokémon was an evil show that worshiped the devil. Till this day, Dean still can't see how.

"That's what I meant. Hey, how about in between jobs, we watch another episode together on your PSP," he suggested.

Sarah smiled up at him, "Yeah, sure."

"Then it's a date," Dean grinned.

Sam was rolling his eyes as his brother and niece were talking. He knew Dean was trying to distract from the truth of why they were there. "Dean," he finally said, annoyed. "I know what you're doing."

"No you don't, Sam," Dean replied, looking down at his bag again, going through it.

"You wouldn't step within one hundred yards of Mom's grave."

Dean glanced up at the ceiling then back down.

"Look, maybe you're imagining a hunt where there isn't one so you don't have to think about Mom. Or Dad," Sam told him.

He tossed one of his shirts back in his bag and turned half his body to look at Sam.

Sam sighed but didn't say anything. No one did for a few seconds until he finally asked, "You wanna take another swing? Go ahead, if it'll make you feel better."

Dean shook his head, "I don't need this crap" and went over to grab the keys to the Impala and his jacket.

"Dad?" asked Sarah.

He walked back over to the bed to hold the back of her head, bending over as he told her, "I'm gonna go have a drink alone. Stay here with Sam, okay" and kissed the front of her head near the top.

Sarah nodded before Dean turned back around and stormed from the motel room.


	55. Chapter 54

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 54

Sarah tossed and turned, trying to feel around for her father as she slept. The same vision from the day before flashed through her mind. It was pure torture just watching. It was even worse when she started seeing her grandfather. John's screams rang through her mind until she shot awake, into a sitting position, breathing fast and hard as sweat soaked her face.

Sam was standing over her. He had woken up to his niece crying in her sleep. "You okay, Peanut?" he asked, sitting on the edge of the bed to face her.

Sarah took a deep breath, wiping her face and neck on her right arm.

"Were you having a vision?"

She glanced up at her uncle out of the corner of her eye, "I, uh." Sarah looked away. "No, well, sort of. I… Never mind. Just forget it. Is Dad back yet?"

"No, he isn't." Sam looked over at the front door and returned to his niece. "Listen, Peanut, you can't keep shouldering this thing alone. What's going on? First, you're all closed up where you don't talk to anyone and now these nightmares that break you into a sweat? Talk to me, Peanut. What's going on?"

Sarah shook her head, staring down at the bed.

Sam sighed. "Look, I know you want to be just like your dad and all…"

"This has nothing to do with trying to be like Dad. First of all, Grandpa told me not to tell anyone. Not you, not Dad. No one. Second, these nightmares I'm having would probably scare Dad and hardly anything scares him. I can't tell mine and Grandpa's secret and I can't tell you about these nightmares. Okay?" she shot up at him before rushing to the bathroom.

Sam watched as she ran into the bathroom, coming back out long enough to grab her duffel bag.

"Forgot my stuff," she said and went back into the bathroom.

Sam looked down, towards the floor then over to the far wall. He really wanted to know this so-called secret between his father and niece. He wanted to know why his brother had woken up and minutes later, killed his father. And what were these nightmares anyway. If it was something Sarah thought would scare her father, Sam really wanted to know more about them. But of course, Sarah was a Winchester and was stubborn like one.

He sat there for a few minutes before standing up long enough to pick up the remote and flip through the channels for something to watch. He landed on some pay-per-view erotic channel. Sam couldn't help feel drawn in as he watched whatever erotic channels showed, forgetting his niece was in the bathroom.

Hearing the bathroom doorknob click and turn before opening made Sam snap back to reality and quickly turned it off. Sarah walked out, carrying her duffel bag, dressed in jeans and a sleeveless shirt with some of the _Mario Bros. _characters on the front. Her short hair was wet and brushed back.

Sarah stopped when she noticed her uncle sitting there and the TV off when she could have sworn she just heard it. She looked between him and the TV a couple times before walking between them, "Awkward." She wasn't sure what it was her uncle was watching but could guess it was something he didn't want anyone else to know, probably one of those soap opera shows her grandmother liked so much.

Sarah dropped her duffel bag onto her bed and pulled out a folded pair of white socks. She sat down, unfolding them and lifted her right foot towards her, noticing out of the corner of her right eye, her uncle watching her. "What?" she asked.

Sam looked away. "Nothing," he told her. When Sarah had both socks on and had flipped onto her stomach to look underneath the bed for her shoes, Sam asked, "Are you sure you don't want to tell me? At least about the nightmares."

After seeing that her shoes weren't there, she sat up onto her legs and looked around the whole floor of the room. "I can't tell you about the nightmares without giving away Grandpa's secret," she explained, not looking at him.

"Are you having nightmares about your grandfather dying?"

Sarah leaned forward on her hands in the opposite direction to look on the other side of the bed. Spotting her tennis shoes, she crawled off and went over to grab them and sat down on the edge of the bed as Dean walked in.

"Where the hell were you?" Sam asked of his brother.

Dean walked right passed him, "I was working my imaginary case," he replied and kissed the side his daughter's head as she was trying to tie the shoelaces that were unraveling at the ends. Dean noticed and sat down next to her, grabbing her foot to lay it across his lap.

"Yeah? And?" Sam asked, looking over at his brother's back.

"Oh, well, you were right," he said, taking out a pocket knife and flipped it open. "I didn't find much." Dean cut off the puff ball that the shoelace had formed from being unraveled,  
"Yeah, except Angela's boyfriend died last night, slit his own throat. But, you know, that's normal." Next, he took out his lighter from his other pocket and flicked it on to burn the end of the shoelace. Before doing the same to the other end, he added, "Uh, let's see. What else? Oh, he was seeing Angela everywhere before he died," and shrugged, repeating the process, "But I'm sure that's just me transferring my own feelings."

"Doesn't sound like it to me," said Sarah. "But isn't it kind of usual sometimes to see a loved one everywhere right after losing them?" She quickly added, "Not trying to disagree from you, Dad."

"You're fine, baby girl," he told her, flicking the lighter on again. "But no, he was really seeing her everywhere."

Sam was about to speak but Sarah beat him to it. "Did you check out his house yet?" she asked.

"Sure did. Dead plants just like the cemetery. Hell, dead gold fish too." Dean finished the shoelace and asked about her other shoe, letting her foot go.

When Sarah reached down to pick up her other shoe, Sam seized the moment to speak. "Okay, I get it. I'm sorry, Dean. Maybe there is something going on here."

Dean twisted around, fast to look back at him, "Maybe?" he questioned. "Sam, I know how to do my job, despite what you might think." Dean looked away and grabbed his daughter's shoe from her, not meaning to use force but Sarah flinched a tad bit from it. He pulled her into a one-handed hug and kissed the top of her head.

Sam asked, "So unholy ground?"

"Maybe," Dean shrugged as Sarah tied her shoe. "Still not getting that powerful angry-spirit vibe from Angela." Only one end had unraveled while the other end still had the aglet attached to it. Dean cut the end off and burned it together. "When I get the chance, I'll hustle pool and see about earning some extra cash to get ya some stronger shoes."

Sarah wasn't paying attention to her father. She was deep in thought thinking about the Angela girl. She snapped out of it when her father snapped his fingers near her, trying to get her attention. "What?" she asked and Dean had to repeat himself. "What's wrong with these?"

Dean stared down at his daughter with an are-you-kidding-me look and held her shoe on his hand where a couple of his fingers stuck out through holes. Removing it, he gave it back to her to remove his own shoes before standing up to remove his overshirt. "Now excuse me while I go wash my hands," he announced and headed for the bathroom.

Once her father was gone, Sarah leaned on her right hand to pull her duffel bag over to her and began rummaging through her things until she found what she was looking for. She pulled out one of her books and began skimming through the pages.

"By the way, I've been reading this." Dean came out from the bathroom and went over to the dresser the TV was sitting on, where he had placed his jacket, and picked up a grey, leather-bound book, showing it to Sam and Sarah. Sam stared at it while Sarah ignored him, unintentionally.

"You stole the girl's diary?" Sam questioned his brother.

"Yeah, Sam," he replied, opening it up and looked through it again. "And if anything, the girl's a little too nice."

"So, what you wanna do?" asked Sam.

Dean looked up long enough to say, "Keep digging, talk to more of her friends."

"You get any names?"

"You kidding me," he looked up suddenly and shut the book to hold it up. "I have her bestest friend in the whole wide world." Dean then tossed it at him as he headed back to the bathroom to take a shower.

While Sam skimmed through the diary with guilt, he happened to notice his niece with her nose in a book still. He could see the look in her eye she gets when she's researching and knew something was up. He tried to get her attention but it was hopeless when her mind was occupied.

After about fifteen minutes when Dean came out of the bathroom, dressed in different clothes and drying his hair, Sarah announced, "I got it!"

"Got what, Peanut?" Sam asked.

Sarah looked up, between the men. "The dead plants, boyfriend seeing her everywhere, and on top of that, her father just happens to teach a class on ancient Greek? Sounds more than a coincidence to me and I bet if we dig her up, we'll find these symbols." She turned the book around to show them a picture of divination symbols. "I think her father decided to bring her back to life because he couldn't bear to live without her."

Sam had to smile, shaking his head at the diary he was holding. He looked up at the ceiling then at his niece. "Is there anything you don't have a book on?"

She shrugged, "I don't know but be thankful I have lore on this stuff."

"Well then, how about tonight we pay Angela a visit and see if we can't find these symbols," Dean grinned.

"Can we get lunch though?" Sarah asked. "I'm starving."

"Sure, kiddo," he told her.

While on the way to grab a bite to eat, they went to talk to Angela's best friend to learn more information that could help them figure everything out.

Later, that evening, the Winchesters headed back to the cemetery to dig up Angela. Once they reached the coffin, Dean let Sam open it to find the coffin empty.

Sarah was shining her flashlight on the bottom of the lid at the same symbols that were in her book. "I told you so," she said and opened it up to the page she had marked.

Sam and Dean looked between the book and the symbols on the coffin lid. "Well, I'll be," Dean said. "Looks like you cracked this case, baby girl."

She grinned, "You two would probably be lost without me." Dean grabbed her into a headlock and rubbed her head with his fist. Sarah pushed on her father, trying to break away from him. "Dad! Stop it!"

Dean eventually let her go and lifted her out of the hole before pushing himself out. The three of them filled it back up. Back at the motel, after doing some more research, Dean and Sarah sat up in bed and watched a couple episodes of _Pokémon _like Dean had suggested the night before.

The next morning, Dean wanted to confront Angela's father about what they had found out. He banged on the front door which Sam told him to take it easy.

Angela's father answered the door. "You're Angie's friends, right?"

"Dr. Mason," Sam began before Dean interrupted him.

"We need to talk," Dean said in a serious tone.

Angela's father let the Winchesters in, closing the door behind them. Both Sam and Sarah thanked him while Dean just walked on by.

Sarah was holding her book under her left arm when Dean reached down and took it from her. "You teach ancient Greek." He opened it up to the same page as the symbols and showed it to Dr. Mason, "Tell me, what are these?"

Dr. Mason looked at the picture then at Dean, "I don't understand," he said. "You said this had something to do with Angela?"

"It does," said Dean and shrugged. "Please, just humor me."

"Like it says right here, they're part of an ancient Greek divination ritual," Dr. Mason explained.

He nodded, "Used for necromancy, right?"

"That's right," Dr. Mason nodded in return.

"You see, before we came over here, we read that book, backwards and forward," Dean began to explain. "Apparently, they use rituals like this one for communicating with the dead. Even bringing corpses back to life, full on zombie action."

He nodded, "Yeah," and shrugged. "I mean, according to the legends." Dr. Mason closed the book and handed it back to them. Sarah reached up for it and he lowered it so she could reach, thanking him. "Now, what's all this about?"

"I think you know," Dean snapped at him.

"Dean," Sam warned him.

Dean ignored his brother, "Look, I get it," he told Dr. Mason. "Okay? There are people that I would give anything to see again. But what gives you the right?"

Sarah could tell her father was working up into a rage and held her hand up to take ahold of his, "Dad, take it easy. We don't want to scare him."

Dean ignored his daughter too. "What's dead should stay dead," he said, angrily.

"What?" Dr. Mason asked, confused about what he was talking about.

"Stop it!" Sam told his brother.

"What you brought back isn't even your daughter anymore," Dean continued. "These things are vicious. They're violent. They're so nasty, they rot the ground around them. I mean, come on, haven't you seen _Pet Semetary_?"

"You're insane," said Dr. Mason and walked passed them over to the phone.

Sarah was still trying to calm her father down. Dean pulled his hand away and turned around as Dr. Mason walked passed him.

"Where is she?" Dean demanded of the guy.

Dr. Mason was dialing his phone, "Get out of my house," he ordered them.

Dean rushed over and hung up the phone. "I know you're hiding her somewhere. Where is she?"

Sarah stood there, watching her father. It scared her to death to see him like this. If Dean was acting like this about someone bringing someone back from the dead, what was he going to do if she decided to tell him and Sam John's secret.

Sam had noticed the plants inside Dr. Mason's house was still alive and managed to get Dean out of the house before something else happened. Dean stormed from the house with Sam and Sarah following quickly, trying to keep up.

"What the hell is the matter with you, Dean?" Sam demanded of his brother.

"Back off," he told him.

"That man is innocent. He didn't deserve that."

"Okay, so she's not here," shrugged Dean, "maybe he's keeping her somewhere else."

Sam walked at Dean's side, starting to get fed up with his crap. "Stop it," he said. "That's enough, okay? Enough."

Dean looked right back at him as he walked, "Sam, I know what I'm doing."

Sarah ran and jumped right in front of her father, making him stop in his tracks. "You wouldn't have known about this if it weren't for me," she pointed out.

"Really, Sarah?" he asked of her. "I'm pretty sure I would have figured it out eventually. I've been doing this long before you were even a twinkle in my eye." Dean then walked around her. Sam and Sarah continued to race after him.

"Dean, I don't scare easily but man, you're scaring the crap out of me," Sam told him.

"Me too," Sarah added.

"Don't be over dramatic, you two," he said, looking ahead.

"You're lucky this turned out to be a real case, 'cause if it wasn't you would have found something else to kill," Sam kept going, making Dean stop walking to face him.

"What…"

"You're on edge," he said. "You're erratic. Except for when you're hunting, then you're just downright scary. You're tailspinning, man. And you _and _Sarah refuse to talk about it, and you won't let me help you."

Dean shrugged, "I can take care of myself and my kid, thanks." He then turned and walked away again.

Sam just wouldn't give up on him and followed after him. Sarah didn't know what to say at this point. The way her father and uncle were acting, could they really handle this secret? Especially her father. The way he exploded in there and acting like there's nothing wrong when she knew he wasn't taking John's death well. Sarah quickly followed after them.

"No, you can't," Sam told his brother. "And you know what? You're the only one who thinks you have to. You don't have to handle this on your own, Dean. No one can."

"Sam, if you bring up Dad's death one more time, I swear," Dean warned him, not wanting to be reminded of it for the umpteenth time and stopped yet again.

"Stop it, Dean, it's killing you. Please, at least for Sarah's sake."

Dean didn't respond. He just stared back at Sam.

"We already lost Dad," Sam continued. "We lost Mom. I've lost Jessica. And now Sarah and I are gonna lose you too? Then I'll probably lose Sarah since she shadows everything you do."

Sarah perked up when her uncle asked that. Everything Sam said was starting to sink in.

Dean just shook his head. "We better get out of here before the cops come," he said. When Sam looked away, not saying anything, Dean added, "I hear you. Okay? Yeah, I'm being an ass. And I'm sorry. But right now we got a freaking zombie running around. We need to figure out how to kill it."

Sam just chuckled as he looked away again.

"Right?" asked Dean.

"Our lives are weird, man," Sam finally said, smiling.

"You're telling me," and Dean walked away, "come on."

Sam stood there for a moment, looking downward and caught a look at his niece. His heart was mostly breaking and worrying about her, besides his brother. He swore the two of them were going to be the death of him one day.

Back at the motel, the three of them tried to figure out how to kill Angela.

"We can't just waste it with a headshot?" Dean was pacing back and forth.

"Dude, you've been watching way too many Romero flicks," Sam said.

Sarah was sitting across from her uncle with her knees up towards her, looking through her book.

"So you're telling me there's no lore on how to smoke them?" Dean asked.

"No Dean, I'm telling you there's too much," Sam corrected him. "I mean there's a hundred legends on the walking dead but they all have different methods for killing them."

"My book says the most reliable method is nailing them back into their box or they say using silver works too," Sarah pointed out.

Dean shrugged, "Silver is a start."

"But how will we find Angela?" asked Sam.

"We gotta figure out the person who brought her back," he said.

"Any ideas?"

"I think if it's not her dad, it might be that guy Neil." Dean went over to where he left Angela's diary and grabbed it.

"Neil? He doesn't seem the type to do something like this," Sarah shrugged this time.

"With most of the stuff you do, you don't seem the type either," he reminded her.

"So how'd you come up with that?" Sam asked.

"Well, you got your journal, I got mine." Dean looked through the diary again.

"Dad, did you steal the girl's diary?" Sarah asked, surprised her father would do something like that.

Dean looked up at his daughter again. "Did we not go over this yesterday?"

Sarah looked over at her uncle then back at her father. "No, I don't think so," she said.

"Sarah had her nose in her book when we were discussing it," Sam explained to his brother.

Dean nodded, understanding. He knew his daughter was just as much as a nerd as his brother was and returned to the diary, reading it out loud. "Neil is a real shoulder to cry on. He so understands what I'm going through with Matt," and closed the book. "There's more where that came from. It's got unrequited Ducky love all over it."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he brought her back from the dead," Sam pointed out.

"Let's hear what you got, Sammy boy," Sarah told him.

"Hey, that's Uncle Sammy boy to you, Sarah," Dean said and turned to Sam, who didn't like the whole 'Sammy boy' name to begin with, "Did I mention he's Dr. Mason's TA? Has access to all the same books."

"What's a TA?" asked Sarah.

"It stands for teacher's assistance. In college and sometimes high school, you can assist a teacher of your choice for half a credit," Sam explained to her.

"So should we go stake out his house?"

Dean nodded, "That sounds like a good call."

Later, that night, the Winchesters headed over to Neil's house to find him not home. In fact, no one was home. They found the basement locked and the vent unlocked. Thinking Angela might go after her roommate, they headed there next. Dean almost had Angela nipped in the bag but she got away. Her roommate was a little frightened, but alive.

It came down to using the other method of what Sarah had mentioned before. Visiting Neil at the college, they tried to find out where Angela was. Neil finally said after some persuading, that she was at his house. Then Dean noticed the dead plants and didn't buy it and looked over at the closet. So, he tried to get Neil to come with them but Neil refused.

When they knew they weren't getting anywhere with Neil, the three of them left the office and headed for the cemetery to plan their strategy. The three of them redug up Angela's grave and lit several white candles all around. When they heard leaves rustling off in the distance, Sam pulled his gun out from behind him and hurried over to check it out. Pretty much he was the bait to lead Angela towards her grave.

Angela tried to plead with him until Sam shot her in the forehead and ran like hell back towards her grave as she chased after him. Sarah was crouched behind a headstone, waiting for her uncle and Angela, holding her gun in both hands.

When Sam ran passed the headstone, Sarah cocked the top, getting ready and before she knew it, Angela ran passed her too. Sarah jumped out from behind as Angela shoved Sam to the ground and tried to snap his neck until Sarah shot at her from behind, knocking Angela off of him. Angela tucked and rolled, getting back to her feet, facing Sarah as she stood at the edge of her grave.

Sarah shot again, three times before Angela fell back in the open coffin. Dean quickly popped up from another headstone and leaped into the grave and dug the metal stake right into the center of her chest as she screamed no. He just shoved it in deeper until Angela was dead once more.

Dean stood up, staring down at her. "What's dead should stay dead," he said.

It took them the rest of the night until just after sunrise to refill Angela's grave and patted it down.

"Rest in peace," Sam said once they were done.

Dean breathed heavily, "For good this time, okay?"

"Amen to that," said Sarah getting a hard look from her father. "Hey, you said you didn't want to hear anything about God. I was just agreeing with you."

Dean rolled his eyes and started walking towards the Impala, grabbing his jacket and shaking it out.

Sam grabbed his jacket as well as he headed for the Impala. "You know, the whole fake-ritual thing? Luring Angela into the cemetery? Pretty sharp."

"Thanks," he replied.

"But did we have to use me as bait?"

"I figured you were more her type," Dean shrugged, smiling at his brother. "She had pretty crappy taste in guys."

Sam looked at his brother then looked forward, holding his wrist. "I think she broke my hand."

"Should be drinking milk like me," Sarah smiled up at her uncle. "I tell you that all the time."

Sam laughed, shaking his head. She was so cute and adorable to him, he couldn't even argue with her. "Okay, Peanut, I will start drinking milk with you," he told her.

Dean grinned, "Sucker. I am proud to have my beer and coffee and nothing else."

"Dad, you need calcium, especially a man your age," she teased her father.

"She just call me old?" Dean asked his brother and turned to his daughter. "Did you just call me an old man?"

Sam looked at him, "Yeah. Sure did."

Dean dropped his shovel and jacket and chased after his daughter. Sarah ran away but not fast enough. He scooped up and flipped her up-side down, over his right shoulder, smiling at her.

"I'm old, huh?" he asked of her. "If I'm old, could I do this?"

Sarah hung over her father's shoulder on her back, as he held his arm around her waist. "Dad, put me down," she laughed.

"First you have to say something then I will put you down," he told her with a grin.

She looked at him, "What?"

"'My dad is the handsomest, young guy in all the world.'"

"Seriously?" she asked.

He continued to grin, "You bet."

Sarah threw her head back, groaning.

"Better hurry before all the blood rushes to your head," Dean shrugged.

"Fine," she gave in. "My dad…"

"Louder so Sam over there can hear you," he told her.

Sarah raised her voice loud enough where Sam could hear. "My dad is the handsomest guy in all the world." When she heard her father clear his throat, she said, "I mean, my dad is the handsomest, _young _guy in all the world."

"That's better," he said and shoved his left hand up and into her stomach, gently to tickle it, making her laugh.

"Dad, stop," she giggled, trying to push his hand away.

Dean shifted his daughter, lower towards the ground.

"No, seriously, Dad," she told him, scared. "No more."

"You think I'll drop you?" he laughed. "Don't you trust me?"

Sarah hung up-side down as her shirt from the day before fell, exposing her stomach. "Dad, you said you would put me down if I said what you wanted me to say," she reminded, looking up at him.

"Okay, you're right, baby girl," he gave in. "I'm sorry." Dean wrapped his left arm around her waist to let go of her legs and flipped her over, but not before giving her a playful swat to her backside.

She glared up at him which he just smiled.

"I want to remind you how proud I am of you and I'm gonna keep reminding you," he told her before running his left hand through her hair and wrapped his hand around her head to his leg as they started walking over to the Impala. He stopped to look back at his mother's headstone.

"Come on, Dad," Sarah urged her father. "Go say something."

"No," Dean replied after a short moment of silence. He just couldn't. It wouldn't feel the same to him. Dean kissed her head one last time and continued for the Impala where Sam was leaning against it and hit the road once again. Sarah still had a few more days in the front seat left.

Dean drove for a couple hours, thinking about what he had said the night before. Finally, he pulled off to the side of the road and stepped out, walking towards the front of the Impala. Sam and Sarah exchanged looks between each other and stepped out too. Sam told Sarah to get out on her father's side for safety, in case a car drove by.

"Dad, you okay?" Sarah asked, concerned as she shut the car door.

Dean sat down on the hood, his hands in his jacket pockets, staring at the ground. Sam stood on the other side of the hood.

"Dean, what is it?" Sam asked.

Dean looked up, squinting from the sun then looked down again. "I'm sorry," he finally said.

"For what?" asked Sarah, walking towards him.

"The way I've been acting."

"But I get why though," she told him.

He shook his head, staring ahead, "No, it shouldn't mean I act like an ass. I…"

Sam looked down for a second and walked around to sit on the hood next to his brother, resting his broken wrist on his leg, looking ahead, letting out a breath of air.

Dean continued to stare at the ground. "And for Dad," he finally said.

Both Sam and Sarah looked over at him.

"I mean, he was your dad too, Sam. And it's my fault he's gone."

"What are you talking about?" Sam shook his head.

"I know you've been thinking it. So have I," he said. "Doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

Sarah had her arms folded on the edge of the hood behind her father as she stared up at him. Did he already know the secret of what John did? Was that what John had whispered to him? Should she just come clean then? If they figure it out then it wasn't like blabbing the secret so everything would be okay.

Dean continued, looking at Sam, "Back at the hospital I made a full recovery. It was a miracle." He paused for a couple seconds. "And five minutes later Dad's dead and the Colt's gone."

"Dean," Sam tried to tell him.

Dean wouldn't have it and stared ahead again. "You can't tell me there isn't a connection there.

Sam looked away.

"I don't know how the demon was involved…I don't know how the whole thing went down, exactly but Dad's dead because of me. And that much I do know."

Sam shook his head at the ground, "We don't know that. Not for sure."

Sarah cringed, biting her lower lip as she stared down at her arms. Hearing her father and uncle talk was making it harder for her.

"Sam…" she heard her father say. "You and Sarah, and Dad…" He swallowed hard. "You're the most important people in my life." Dean forced a small laugh. "And now… I never should have come back, Sam. It wasn't natural. And now look what's come of it." His voice was cracking with each sentence he uttered.

Sarah was trying to contain herself but was finding it hard as her father finally opened up, a little.

"I was dead," Dean continued, fighting back his own tears. "And I should have stayed dead." His lower lip was starting to quiver so he licked his lips to stop it. "You wanted to know how I was feeling. Well, that's it."

Sam looked forward, nodding. He was glad Dean finally talked to him. Now all was left was Sarah. Sam figured at that point, if he could get through to his brother then maybe, just maybe, he could get through to her.

"So tell me."

Sam looked back at his brother.

Dean finally let it go as his eyes glossed over and his voice cracked as a tear fell from his right eye. "What could you possibly say to make that all right?"

That done it. Sarah released everything and balled her eyes out. Sam and Dean looked over at the little girl, thinking it must have been hard for her to hear all that. They didn't know the half of it. "I'm s' s'rry, Granpa!" she cried out, her words muffled by her arms and lifted her tear-stained and snot-filled face. "I saw it. The end of it, anyway," Sarah finally told them.

"Saw what?" Dean sniffed.

"Grandpa and the demon," she replied. "I got there as Grandpa was giving the demon the Colt. He had made a deal with it to save you. I don't know why Grandpa didn't get ten years but I know what I saw. There, okay. I told you what happened. But don't think I am gonna tell you about my nightmares. No way in hell, am I even thinking of saying it. Nothing can make me say what I've seen." Sarah then ran over and climbed into the backseat, slamming the door shut and curled up into a ball, hugging her monkey to her, crying into it.

She had thought telling them would make her feel better but how would it feel to openly break a promise made by your grandfather not to tell someone a secret he didn't want the world to know?


	56. Chapter 55

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 55

"It wasn't healthy for her, Dean," Sam was arguing with his brother.

"Yeah?" Dean replied, switching back and forth between Sam and the road ahead. "And this is? I keep telling you, Sam. When Sarah is good and ready, she will come talk to me. Now thanks to you, my own kid hardly talks to me, she barely eats, and now all she does is listen to her music." Dean was pissed as hell once he found out Sam had been pushing Sarah to talk to them.

"She did tell us on her own," he said.

"Yeah, because she saw me crying. You know how emotional Sarah gets when it comes to me. She sees me in any kind of pain, Sarah thinks she has to do something about it."

Sam let out a deep, annoyed breath. "Look, I'm sorry, all right," he finally said, looking at the ceiling of the Impala. Sam then looked over at Dean again. "I was just trying to help her. She was breaking my heart just watching her."

Dean gripped the steering wheel in his left hand. "And you don't think she was breaking mine? She did talk to me after I told you to let her come out on her own. I knew how much Dad's death was affecting her, okay. Yes, we had a big cry about it. But I told her if she wanted to honor Dad's dying wish that was fine by me. But no, you had to go and push her. Well, I hope you're happy, Sam."

Sam let out another breath of air, rubbing his eyes with one hand while his elbow was on the car door. "Nothing about my niece's distress makes me happy, Dean," he said, calmly as he stared at his side mirror through the window.

Dean grew quiet. "Just don't push her about the nightmares, okay?" he asked, calmly as well. "When she's ready, she'll talk. My baby girl usually does." Dean looked up into his rearview mirror at his daughter.

Sarah was leaning against the door on her father's side, with her headphones over her ears as she listened to her music. She softly sang along as she stared out the window as she hugged her monkey to her. Right now her grandfather was living agonizingly torture and she broke her promise she tried desperately not to tell. Not like she actually told her grandfather she would keep it but she made the promise to herself and had been kicking herself ever since.

Why couldn't she have just fought harder to keep her mouth shut? Why couldn't she have held her tongue? But her father was hurting not knowing the truth. He had to know and possibly John would have understood. Or he would have been very disappointed in her.

Sarah shut her eyes at the thought of her grandfather hating her. She didn't even want to think about it. Sarah thought about him in hell, his screams echoing through her mind and could feel her eyes fill up with tears.

It broke his heart for Dean to see his daughter in so much pain as he watched her in the mirror. He wanted to know what was going on in her head, right now but he couldn't push her like he had told Sam. It was best to let Sarah talk when she was good and ready, and not before.

Eventually, Dean pulled into a gas station and parked beside a gas pump. Both men got out. Dean gently knocked on Sarah's window to get her attention.

Sarah rolled the window down, manually and removed her headphones.

"Hungry? Thirsty? Need to take a leak?" he asked of her.

Sarah shook her head and returned her headphones to her ears, rolling the window back up.

Dean leaned against the Impala as the gas pumped into the gas tank, thinking about how his father had made a deal with the very thing they had been trying to hunt down and kill for twenty-three years. He kept asking himself why it had happened. He shouldn't have come back. Yes, Dean would have wanted to for his daughter's sake but for his own father to make that deal and take his own life, it just wasn't fair or natural to Dean. Of course, knowing Sam, he probably would have taken over and made Sarah stop hunting. Then John would argue that since Sarah was already involved, she should keep it up. Then there would have been a heated argument in which Sarah would probably get involved too and there would be no one there to break it up. Except for it being unnatural and unfair, maybe it was for the best Dean was alive instead.

Suddenly, Dean was snapped out of his thoughts to see Sarah grasping her head in pain. He jumped up, fast and opened her door, kneeling beside the car, pushing her headphones to around her neck. "Baby girl? What's wrong? Is it another vision?" he asked, trying to remain calm as he held onto her waist. Dean touched the side of her head as Sarah whimpered out in pain, pushing her head back against the seat. "It's okay, baby girl. I'm right here. You've gotten through this before. You're a strong kid. Hold on, okay."

Tears ran down both sides of her face as visions of a man shooting another man, then himself played in her mind. Once it was over, Sarah was able to take her vision back, clearly as she tried to catch her breath. Sarah looked at her father, noticing he was there like always. "It's happening again…someone's… Someone is gonna die."

Dean stared at her for a moment before he lifted her up into his arms. That's when he remembered Sam and hurried to the men's restroom to find him hunched over the sink in the same state as Sarah.

"I don't know, man," Dean said as he drove down the highway. The radio was on as an announcer spoke. "Why don't we chill out, think about this?"

Sam switched off the radio, looking at his brother. "What's there to think about?" he asked of him.

"I just don't think going to the Roadhouse is the smartest idea," said Dean.

"Dean, it's another premonition," Sam argued, "I know it. This is gonna happen and Ash can tell us where."

"Yeah, man…"

"Plus, it could have a connection with the demon. Our visions always do."

Dean looked at him out of the corner of his eye, "That's my point. There will be hunters there. I don't know if-if going in and announcing you're some supernatural freak with a, uh, demonic connection is the best thing, okay?"

Sarah was hanging over the back of the front seat like she used to do. "So I probably shouldn't mention I tried to practice my mind thing around Miss Ellen and Miss Jo when I was staying with them, then?" she asked, biting her lower lip.

He looked at her, quickly, "You what?! Why?"

Sarah started sucking on it next. "I figured if I could get it under control like that Max guy, maybe it could help with the demon."

"Sarah Lynn Winchester! Don't _ever _try that again _especially _around hunters. If anyone finds out you or Sam has these abilities they might decide to hunt you down no matter if you're just a kid or not. Do you understand me?"

Sarah nodded, "Yes, sir."

"You're lucky I don't decide to pull this car over," he added.

Sarah then retreated back into the backseat and tended to the war battle she was having with her toys, not saying anything. She didn't even make sound effects for them as Sarah held her head against the seat.

"So Ellen and Jo know then?" Dean asked her, after a while.

"No, I don't think so. They didn't see me use it on the glass I was using. Miss Ellen just assumed I had thrown it, I think. I apologized though and cleaned it up for her."

"I hope you worked it off, too," he said.

"No, Miss Ellen wasn't mad either. She said she had a ton of glasses that it wouldn't be noticed," Sarah explained.

Dean sighed. "Like I said, don't do it again."

"Yes, sir," she repeated.

Eventually, Dean pulled up to the Roadhouse and parked. Sarah was the first one out of the car and ran inside where Jo was standing there, counting some money she had in her hand.

Jo looked up when she noticed the little girl run in, "Hey Sarah. You guys back again?" she greeted with a smile.

"Hey Jo," Sarah returned the greeting, politely. "Where's your mom?"

Jo shook her head in the direction of the kitchen, "She's in the back."

"Thanks." Sarah then hurried passed the young woman towards the kitchen door. Ellen was coming out of it, carrying two beers in each hand. Sarah hugged the older woman around the legs, surprising Ellen.

"Woah," said Ellen, almost falling over and dropping the beer. "Well, hey there, Sarah."

The little girl looked up at her, "Hi, Miss Ellen," she smiled.

"What brings you all here?"

"Uncle Sam wants to talk to Ash about something that I can't say," Sarah told her. "Need help with those?"

"Sure, sweetie." Ellen handed Sarah the two beers that was in her right hand and took one from her other hand, telling Sarah to follow her.

While Sam and Dean spoke to Ash, Sarah hung around Ellen, following her and helping out when she needed it, talking her ear off about random stuff. Ellen was surprised in this sudden change but unbeknown to her, Sarah was just trying to shut away her issues she didn't want to think about. Ellen also didn't know just how much Sarah really liked her.

Jo turned on some music to listen to on the jukebox while she cleaned up some empty tables. Sarah was telling Ellen about something that happened to her in one of her video games until she heard it come on and looked over at her father, giving him a _do-we-have-to-listen-to-this _look. Dean gave a _be-nice _look right back and started talking to Jo about the music.

"So Sarah," Ellen finally said, refilling the salt container from one of the tables, "feelin' any better? Been thinkin' about you since you left."

"Yeah," she replied. "Dad and I talked about it."

"That's good…to hear." Ellen happened to look over, puzzled as Dean was looking at her, who smiled and nodded. "Anyway, glad you're feelin' better."

"Yeah, you bet." Sarah didn't have the heart to tell her that she really wasn't and felt like crap. She looked away, growing silent.

Ellen looked at the little girl. "You sure you're all right, sweetie?" she asked, concerned.

Sarah nodded and hugged Ellen again as Ellen looked over at Dean as if to ask, what's going on? He only shrugged before Sam hurried over to where Dean was sitting, saying they had to go. He stood up, telling Jo he'd see her later and went over to lift his daughter up into his arms. Sarah latched onto his neck.

"If you want, Sarah could stay while you boys check out whatever it is you're looking into," Ellen offered.

Dean made sure he was the one to answer her, "Thanks but I think Sarah should come with us, this time. Her shoulder being all healed up and all." With Sarah and Sam's visions starting up again, he didn't think it was wise to leave Sarah behind.

Back on the road, Dean couldn't shake that song for some reason and started singing it out loud to himself. Both Sam and Sarah slowly looked over at him, exchanging looks between themselves.

"Seriously, Dad?" Sarah asked her father.

"I can't get the song out of my head," he replied, staring ahead.

"Want me to unplug my headphones and play one of your songs then?"

"Sure, knock yourself out," he told her.

Sarah removed her headphones from her PSP and scrolled through the list of songs before coming to one of her father's favorites.

"What you got, Sam?" Dean asked his brother as the music played and Sarah settled into a ball. He noticed her too. "Don't zone out, baby girl. This could be a hunt."

Sam began to read off what Ash had found, "Andrew Gallagher. Born in '83, like me. Lost his mother in a nursery fire exactly six months later, also like me."

"You think the demon killed his mom?"

"Sure looks like it," said Sam.

"How did you even know to look for this guy?"

"Every premonition Sarah and I had aren't about the demon, they're about the kids the demon visited," Sam explained. "Like Max Miller, remember him?"

Dean grinned, looking at Sam from the corner of his eye, "Yeah, but Max Miller was a pasty little psycho."

"The point is, he was killing people, and we were having the same type of visions about him. Now it could be happening all over again with this Gallagher guy."

"How do we find him?" Dean asked, staring fully ahead now as he drove.

"Don't know," he admitted. "No current address, no current employment. Still owes money on all his bills. Phone, credit, utilities."

"Collection-agency flags?"

"None in the system," Sam told him.

Dean looked between the road and Sam, "They just let him take a walk?"

Sam didn't answer right away. "Seems like it. There's a work address from his last W2, about a year ago. We'll start there."

Dean nodded and looked up at the rear-view mirror, at his daughter who had fallen asleep. He let her sleep until they arrived in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Sam very carefully pulled her PSP from her grasp and turned it off, slipping it into his pocket for now before lifting her, gently into his arms and grabbed her monkey. Once Dean had their room key, Sam carried his niece inside while Dean carried their bags and laid Sarah down on the bed farthest from the door, removing her shoes first before her jacket.

Sam sat back onto the other bed, removing his own shoes. "Hey, Dean."

Dean replied, "What?" as he removed his jacket before sitting on the edge of the bed Sarah was sleeping on, his back to his brother. Dean removed his boots next.

"What do you think Sarah dreams about?" Sam asked.

Dean looked back at his brother, confused as hell why his brother would be asking that question. "Sunshine and unicorns. How should I know what Sarah dreams about," he said and stood up long enough to toss back the covers.

"No, I mean those nightmares she's been having. I think they must have something to do with Dad."

"What makes you say that?" asked Dean, removing his overshirt and tossed it over, onto the floor and looked over at his brother.

"The other day, when it was just me and her, I asked if she could just tell me about the nightmares and she told me, she couldn't tell me about the nightmares without giving away the se…cret. Wait…" Sam and Dean stared at each other for a few minutes before Sam said, "If Dad made a deal with the demon to save you then that must mean…"

"Dad's in hell, literally, and Sarah's having nightmares about it," Dean finished in realization.

"Do you think they're just scary nightmares, or do you think Sarah is really having visions and can see what hell looks like?"

Dean looked down at his daughter, worry all over his face. "I don't know," he admitted. "But it's scaring the crap out of me."

Sam shrugged, "Sarah did say her nightmares were terrifying enough to scare you since she thinks you're not afraid of anything. Well, besides planes." He had to smile at that last part, getting a glare from his brother. "Seriously though, this kid is starting to scare _me_. Her psychic abilities awakening way before her twenty-second birthday, the demon talks to her, personally and telling her, she's his favorite."

"I think that's the one that scares me the most," Dean admitted.

"Same here," he agreed. "And not only that, but Sarah was able to throw the demon across the room when she saw it attack you. Dean, I think you may be the fuel to her ability."

He stared at his brother like he was nuts, "Fuel?"

"Think about it, every time her ability came out, it always was because you were endanger or someone said something about you that wasn't true. Like that preacher's wife back in Nebraska."

"Makes sense, I am her father," Dean shrugged.

"And who she idolizes," Sam added. "Dean, you need to be more careful before it gets worse."

"Yeah, why don't I climb into a plastic bubble suit that protects me from natural and supernatural stuff," he said, sarcastically. "We're hunters, Sam. We fight things that want to cause us harm. Would be hard not to get hurt," and shrugged, "Besides, Sarah said she was able to break a glass back at the Roadhouse and I wasn't even there so how would she have known if I had been hurt or not."

Sam shrugged, "She does have visions, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, but not like that. They usually involve the demon or the kids the demon visited, like you said," Dean pointed out.

Sam stood up long enough to throw back the covers on his own bed and sat down in front of the pillows. "What I don't get is," he said as he removed his own jacket and overshirt, "if Sarah is the demon's favorite then why is it letting her roam around, freely? Why not take her for his own? In fact, didn't Sarah say, the demon was the one who led her other grandfather to find Dad's number in the first place, to find you? I mean, why let Sarah go with you anyway?"

Dean leaned back against his pillow. "I honestly have no idea and I don't even know whether to thank the demon or curse it out for letting Sarah know about this stuff."

Sam stared down at the bed in front of him for a moment before he asked, "Dean?"

"Hm?" Dean held his hands, folded behind his head with his eyes closed.

"What would you have done if you had met Sarah, and she had no clue about hunting or what's really out there in the shadows?"

He opened his eyes, but did not answer right away. He stared at the far wall, ahead of him.

"Dean?" Sam looked over at his brother, still waiting for a response.

Dean took a deep breath before he finally answered. "The day Sarah and I first met, her grandfather told me while I was waiting on her to pack, that if I hadn't of claimed her he and his wife was gonna carry out the plan Sarah's mother had planned before she died," he explained.

"And what was that?"

Dean closed his eyes again, finding it hard to open them.

"Where were they gonna send her, Dean?" Sam urged him, gently.

Dean laid there for a minute and then turned onto his side to cover his daughter's ears in case she had woken up as he was telling Sam the truth. He then told Sam, "They were going to check her into a mental hospital for children."

Sam stared at his brother in disbelief. "A mental hospital?" he questioned. "But why? Because she was reading about monsters and urban legends?"

"What kid do you know that reads about that stuff?" Dean removed his hands from her. "Plus, she was having visions that started before she met us and Sarah's been seeing the demon since she was five. They even tried putting her on meds which according to her psychologist had no effect on her."

"Do you think it was because of the demon or fact she has psychic abilities?"

Dean shrugged, leaning on his right elbow.

Sam looked away, close to tears. He heard his brother tell him to hit the lights as Dean lied fully down, wrapping his left arm around Sarah. Sam looked back at him, "Hey Dean. Do you think…?" He paused in midsentence.

"Do I think what?" he asked, his eyes closed again, lying close to her.

"Do you think Sarah could sleep with me tonight?"

Dean opened his eyes, lifting his head. "Why?" he asked, confused again.

"I just want my niece to sleep with me, tonight," Sam shrugged. "Besides, I sleep lighter than you do so if something happens, Sarah will be fine with me."

Dean hesitated upon answering. He didn't think he would be able to sleep without his daughter near him, protected his own arms. He barely slept when he and Sam went on that hunt a couple months ago when Sarah's shoulder was healing. He did agree but told Sam that if he couldn't sleep through the night, Sarah would move back over to his bed.

"Dude, she's not a teddy bear," Sam told him. "Sarah's a human being, Dean. I'm sure you will be fine." And he stood up to gently lift his niece up and place her over in his bed, covering her up with the comforter before lying back down himself. Sarah didn't stir at all. She did move towards her uncle while still in her sleep.

Sam wrapped his right arm around her, protectively like he seen Dean do a million times and kissed her forehead. "Love you, Peanut," he told her, softly and fell asleep.

Dean sat there, watching the two of them. The two, most important people in his life and were his responsibility, not anyone else's. But Dean couldn't help but remember what his father had told him about Sam _and _Sarah, especially Sarah. He did know why his daughter was the demon's favorite. Dean just didn't want to admit it. Getting up, he turned out the light and lied back in bed, staring up at the ceiling as his father's words echoed through his mind as a tear drifted from his right eye.


	57. Chapter 56

**Family is Where the Heart is **

Chapter 56

Sometime in the middle of the night, Sarah had yet another vision of hell. It had been almost a week since she had one. She began to toss and turn, whimpering in her sleep until she shot up, awake, breathing hard like always. She looked around as her uncle woke up beside her.

"You okay, Peanut?" he asked, sitting up, concerned for her.

Sarah looked up at him through the dark. "Where's my dad?"

"He's right in the other bed, sleeping." Sam tried to wrap his niece into a hug but Sarah rejected his offer and climbed out of bed to head over to her father.

Sarah then lifted the comforter and lied down next to him, snuggling up against her father. Dean's arm automatically locked around his daughter while he slept soundly and soon Sarah fell back to sleep.

Sam watched, sadly. He knew his niece loved him very much but he just wasn't her father and Sam couldn't compete with Dean in that department. Finally, he laid his head back down on the pillow and closed his eyes. He desperately wished he could have the same exact relationship with his niece that she had with her father. Sure, it didn't bother him before but it seemed like ever since John died, Sam wanted it now.

Sam turned over onto his stomach, hugging the pillow to him and soon, sleep overcame him again. The next morning, he woke up to find both Dean and Sarah still sleeping. Letting them sleep a little longer, Sam stood up from the bed and went into the bathroom to take a shower and got dressed in his usual business attire he wore for gathering information.

When he finally came out, dressed, Sam woke his brother and niece. Dean was the first to stir. He lifted his head to squint at the alarm clock on the nightstand. _7:46 AM_, it read. "What?" Dean groaned at his brother, annoyed.

"We need to get going, don't we?" Sam reminded him.

Dean moaned again as he threw his head back onto his pillow, noticing his daughter lying beside him. "When did Sarah move over here?" he asked.

Sam was sitting on his bed, putting his dress shoes on. "Uh, sometime around one, I think. Had another nightmare again, I'm guessing about hell."

"You don't know the half of it," they heard Sarah's voice from the pillow she was using. The men didn't know the kid had woken up. She sat up, stretching before heading to the bathroom before Dean got to it first. "By the way, if you're going to talk about me, make sure I'm not in the room. I was drifting in and out of sleep last night and could hear you two," Sarah called back before shutting the door.

Sam and Dean exchanged looks.

"I bet it was your big mouth," Dean was the first to speak.

"Mine," Sam questioned, "are you sure it wasn't yours?"

"Uh, pretty sure I was talking quietly."

Sam nodded. "Right," he said, sarcastically, "because I talk loud."

"Well, it sure as hell wasn't me."

After Dean and Sarah were dressed, they headed over to a coffee shop and talked to a couple people who knew Andrew Gallagher. One of them was a young woman named Tracy. She told them where to look for him and headed for Orchard Street where there was a van with a barbarian queen riding a polar bear painted on the side.

"Wow, that is…"

"I know, Peanut," Sam finished for his niece who had paused. "It's weird."

"I was gonna say awesome," Sarah told him, unable to remove her eyes from the sight.

"I hear that, Sarah," Dean agreed. "I'm starting to like this dude. That van is sweet." He looked over at Sam who was now staring back at him. "What's wrong?"

Sam shook his head, "Nothing."

"Sam, you look like you're sucking on a lemon.

"What's wrong with sucking on a lemon?" Sarah asked. "I like'em.

"You're also a weird kid," he added. "What's going on, Sam?"

"This Andrew Gallagher," Sam finally said. "He's the second guy like this we found, Dean. Demon came to them when they were kids, now they're killing people."

"We don't know what Andrew Gallagher is," said Dean, "could be innocent."

Sam had his left arm along the back of the seat. "Our visions haven't been wrong yet."

Dean just looked at his brother. "What's your point?"

Sam hesitated for a second before he responded, "The point is, Sarah and I, we're one of them."

"No, you're not," he shook his head, slightly as he grinned.

"Dean, the demon said he had plans for us and children like us."

Dean questioned, "Yeah?"

"Yeah, maybe this is his plan," Sam told him. "Maybe we're all a bunch of psychic freaks."

"Speak for yourself," Sarah told her uncle, defensively, pushing between the front seat and the edge of the backseat with one foot, leaning on her arms.

He looked over at her, "I mean, it Sarah. What if we're supposed to be…?"

Dean was about to fill in the blank until Sarah beat him to it. "I've been called a freak, pretty much since I started kindergarten. I don't need to hear it from you too."

"I said, I'm one too," Sam pointed out to her.

"I don't care, Uncle Sam," she argued. "Call me a freak again and…" She caught a look from her father out of the corner of her eye that told her not to finish that threat and closed her mouth, sitting back on the seat as she folded her arms, tight, looking away.

"So what, you think you're a bunch of killers?" Dean was finally able to ask Sam.

Sam shrugged, "Yeah."

"So the demon wants you out there, killing with your minds, is that it?"

Sam raised his eye brows once, looking ahead.

"Give me a break," said Dean. "You're not a murderer, Sam, and neither is Sarah. None of you have it in your bones."

He looked at Dean, "No?"

Dean looked ahead, this time.

"Last I checked we kill all kinds of things."

"But those things are asking for it," Dean shrugged at his brother. "There's a difference."

Sam didn't respond after that and Dean looked away, thinking about it. The truth was, Dean was scared to death. If it was really true, he didn't even want to think about either Sam or Sarah turning into killers like Max Miller or possibly this Andrew Gallagher.

Sam interrupted his thoughts when Andrew Gallagher walked out of someone's house, waving good-bye to a woman who was standing in a window on the second floor. The Winchesters watched as he walked down the opposite sidewalk and take someone's coffee from them, willingly.

"That is so gross," Sarah stated as she watched while laying over the seat again and her uncle's arm, making Sam pull it out from under her. "That guy could be sick and he wouldn't know it."

They continued to watch as Andrew greeted the man from Sam and Sarah's visions.

"That's him," Sarah pointed out at the man. "He was in my vision."

"You and Sam keep on him," Dean told his daughter. "I'll stick with Andy. Go."

Both Sam and Sarah quickly got out of the Impala and hurried after the man, playing it cool. When they got across the street, Dean drove off, following after Andrew.

Sarah walked with her hands in her jacket pockets with her head down but glanced up with her eyes to see where the man was walking. Soon, he stopped to answer his cell phone. Sam looked around as Sarah kept a watchful eye until a city bus drove by.

Sam grabbed his niece and quickly ran across the street to the same gun store the man had gone to in the vision, looking around at the place.

"What do we do now?" Sarah asked in almost a whisper.

Sam shushed her and pulled the fire alarm, quickly slipping out.

Sarah followed after her uncle. "What is it with you and pulling the fire alarm?" she asked when they were outside again, still keeping her voice down.

"It was the best thing I could come up with," he shrugged as the man stopped and walked away from the gun store. Sam was relieved until he saw the Impala go by and it wasn't Dean behind the wheel.

Sarah noticed too. She would have figured a lot of people drove Chevy Impalas if it weren't for the fact that the driver was Andrew Gallagher and knew that he drove a van. "What the…"

Sam's phone rang. "Dean, Andy's got the Impala," he said into the phone.

"I know," he replied. "He just sort of asked me for it and I let him take it."

Sarah heard her father through her uncle's phone. "You did what?! Dad! You promised that car to me when I turn eighteen!" she yelled up, towards it.

Dean heard her in the background. "He full on Obi-Wan'd me," he told Sam. "It's mind control, man."

Sam looked around until he looked over to see the man crossing the street right as a bus was driving by. Acting on reflex, Sam quickly wrapped his arm around his niece's head, covering her eyes even though Sarah has already seen worse. He couldn't say anything after that.

Dean knew something was wrong and headed back there as fast he could. Once Sarah realized what had happened, her little heart broke again. They tried the best they could to save this man. She thought things were fine now, that the man was safe.

Sarah cried against her uncle's leg as the paramedics came. Sam stayed back so his niece didn't have to see it up close. He went to lift her up when Dean hurried around the corner and Sarah ran over to him. Sam watched as his brother lifted her up into his arms and comforted her.

"It's okay, baby girl. Calm down," he heard Dean tell her when he saw the paramedics covering the man. "You tried all you could. You kept him from the gun store at least."

"But he still died," Sarah cried into his shoulder.

"I know. We can't save'em all but we can try. That's all we can do, baby girl." Dean rubbed her back as Sam continued to watch them.

Sam longed to be the one holding his niece, assuring her everything was okay. Nope, now it was all Dean and nobody else. Sam was still her uncle. He still loved her just as much as Dean did. Why couldn't Sarah just see that?

Finally, Dean walked over with Sarah still in his arms and asked if Sam was all right. To Dean, Sam looked like he was broken up over the accident too. He was that was the majority of it. It just wasn't all of it.

When the accident had blown over, the Winchesters went in search of the Impala, finding it parked near the coffee shop they had went to that morning.

"Thank God," Dean stated when he saw it as Sarah sprinted over to it, hugging the side. He hurried over to the Impala as well and apologized to it like it was a person, leaning on the doors over Sarah. "At least he left the keys in it."

"Yeah," Sam scoffed, "real Samaritan, this guy."

Dean walked over to his brother. "Well, it looks like he can't work his mojo by twitching his nose. He's gotta use verbal commands."

Sam was looking away. "Doctor had just gotten off his cell phone when he stepped in front of that bus." He took a really deep breath through his nose before letting it out. "Andy must have called or something."

Dean looked down as Sarah walked up, next to him. "I don't know, maybe."

"Beg your pardon?" Sam asked him.

"I just don't know if he's our guy, Sam."

"Who else could it be, Dad?" Sarah asked him. "He's the only one we met so far with the power to control people."

"Dean, you had O.J. convicted before he got out of his white Bronco and you have doubts about this?"

"He doesn't seem like the stone-cold-killer type, that's all," he told them. "And O.J. was guilty."

Sarah asked, confused, "Who are you talking about?"

"Just a man tried for murder," Dean quickly gave the gest of it.

"More importantly," Sam said, not wanting the subject changed, "How are we gonna track Andrew Gallagher down?"

Dean thought on it for a few seconds before he said with a smile, "Not a problem."

The Winchesters checked out the back of Andrew's van, finding nothing but hardcore readings of Kant and some other philosophy authors, as well as a long crack pipe. Dean was mostly intrigued by the tiger on the inside of the van wall.

Catching a bite to eat at a mini-mart, Sam went over everything they found out on the man who was killed while Dean munched on a microwave cheeseburger. "Blech," he stated, wading up the foil and tossed it over his shoulder. "You know, one day, I'd love to just sit down and eat something I didn't have to microwave at a mini-mart," as he chewed the last of the burger.

Sarah was in the backseat, munching on a bag of hot Cheetos. She watched as the wrapper her father threw back there, landing on the floor in front of her. "Dude, this is pretty much my bedroom you're throwing your trash into, you know."

"I'm sorry, whose car did you say this belonged to?" Dean asked over his shoulder at her, without actually looking back. "'Cause last I checked, this was still my car, Miss I-leave-my-toys-all-over-the-backseat."

Sarah just glared at her father as Sam finally spoke, reading something, "What I don't get is the motive. I mean, the doctor was squeaky-clean. Why would Andy waste him?"

"Maybe Andy just didn't like him," Sarah shrugged who had looked over at her uncle when he started talking. "People are crazy like that, sometimes. Like this movie I saw once where…"

"Tell us later, Sarah," Dean told her. "Do you really think it could be Andy?"

"Dude, enough," Sam told him.

"What?"

"The doctor was mind-controlled in front of a bus," he reminded him. "Andy just happens to have the power of mind-control. You do the math."

"I don't think the guy has it in him, that's all," Dean admitted.

"Is this gonna be Gordon all over again?" Sarah asked him, annoyed a little.

"'Cause you both aren't right about this."

"About Andy?" asked Sam.

"Hey." Andrew hurried up to Sam's window, getting all three's attention. "You think I haven't seen you three? Why are you following me?"

"Well, we're lawyers," Sam told him. "You see, a relative of yours…"

"Yeah, with a kid in the backseat? Tell the truth," Andrew told him not buying it.

He shrugged, "That's what I'm…"

"We hunt demons," Dean blurted out of nowhere.

Sam and Sarah looked over at him, shocked that Dean had said that.

"What?" Andrew asked of him while Sam said, "Dean," quietly.

Dean continued, "Demons, spirits. Things your worst nightmares wouldn't touch." Sam was looking between him and Andrew. "Sam here is my brother and that's Sarah, my daughter."

"Dean, shut up," Sam finally told him.

"I'm trying," he told Sam before turning back to Andrew. "They're psychic like you…" Sarah jumped up and covered her father's mouth before he could say anything else. Andrew tried to make her remove her hand but it wasn't having any effect on her as it did on Dean. So he told Dean to force her hand away and continue. "They're not really like you. You see, they think you're a murderer and Sam's afraid they might be one, because you're all part of something that's terrible. I hope to hell, he's wrong, but I'm starting to get scared he might be right."

Andrew was looking a little skittish, hearing Dean say all that to him. "Okay, you know what? Just leave me alone."

"Okay," Dean agreed against his will and looked away, ashamed of what he had just blurted out, letting go of his daughter's wrists he had been holding.

"All right?" he said and walked away.

Sam and Sarah was looking at Dean as he grunted to himself, in disbelief before they hurried from the car and after Andrew, making him back up away from them.

"Look, I said leave me alone," he told them.

Sam and Sarah continued walking towards Andrew as he backed up.

"All right? Get out of here. Just start driving and never stop."

Sam just shook his head at him. "Doesn't seem to work on us, Andy," he said.

Andrew questioned, "What?"

"You can make people do things, can't you? You can tell them what to think." Sam looked back to see Dean walking towards them and held his hand out for Dean to stay back.

"Look, that's crazy," Andrew told him, holding his own hands up.

"It all started a year ago, right?" Sarah asked of him. "Right after your birthday."

"Little stuff at first," Sam added. "Then you got better at controlling it."

Andrew was raising his hands towards his head as Sam and Sarah was asking him and lowered them. "How do you know all this?"

"Cause the same thing happened to us," Sarah replied. "We had family die in a fire, too and psychic powers."

"You see, we're all connected," said Sam, "The three of us."

Andrew held his head in his arms wandering around in a circle. "You know what, just get out of here," he told them once more.

"Still with that, dude?" Sarah asked him as Sam followed after Andrew.

"Why did you tell the doctor to walk in front of a bus?" he asked Andrew.

"What?" Andrew looked like he had no clue what Sam was talking about.

Then it hit again. Sam took it a little better at first but Sarah stepped back, clutching her forehead as visions of a woman setting herself on fire at a gas pump flashed through their mind.

"Why did you kill him?" Sam continued interrogating Andrew.

"I didn't," he shrugged.

Another wave hit both Sam and Sarah, playing the whole thing. Sarah was the first to drop to her knees as Dean bolted to her side. "Baby girl? Sam? What is it?" he asked them both as Sam dropped too. Sarah fell against her father in pain as he held her in his right arm and reached over to touch Sam's shoulder in his left.

"Look, I didn't do anything to any of them," Andrew tried to say.

Dean just glanced at him and focused on his brother and daughter. When the vision was over, Sam told him what they saw. When they had stood back up, Dean lifted Sarah up as a fire truck raced by, blaring its sirens. Sam told Dean to go check it out. Dean passed Sarah to Sam before he hurried back to the Impala.


	58. Chapter 57

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 57

Dean called Sam as soon as he had gotten there. The vision had happened right as the woman was burning herself alive, which didn't help calm Sarah's nerves any. The Winchesters didn't know what to make of it or who was doing it. It couldn't have been Andrew because he was right there with them the whole time. Dean told Sam he was going to dig around and find out more about what happened and hung up.

While they waited for Dean, Sam, Sarah, and Andrew sat there and talked. "You get… You see premonitions of people about to die?" he was asking them.

Sam and Sarah nodded before Sam looked away.

"That's impossible."

"So is mind control," Sarah pointed out as Sam scoffed.

Andrew looked away then looked at them again. "Death visions?" he questioned.

"Yeah," said Sam.

"Dude, that sucks. I mean, when I got my mind thing? It was like a gift, you know? It was like winning the lotto."

"Well, congratulations," Sarah told him, sarcastically. "I got visions and the ability to move people or objects but only if I see my dad in danger, and you don't even want to know the third thing." She stood up and walked a few feet away, with her hands in her jacket pockets. So her father and uncle had figured out her other secret. The same one she did not want to even talk about. Well, just because they knew about it now, it didn't mean she was going to tell them. Even with her IQ, Sarah couldn't put it into words what she was seeing when she had those nightmares.

After a few minutes, Dean returned with information on the woman, whose name was Holly Beckett who was forty-one years old and was single. Andrew had no idea who that was but Dean stated he had called Ash to find out who she was. Turns out she had given birth the same night Andrew was born when she was only eighteen.

With Andrew's help, they got in to the county's records department and learned that Holly Beckett had given birth to twins and that the doctor, who had stepped in front of the bus, had overseen the adoption. The most shocking part was, to Andrew, was who his long-lost brother was.

Andrew sat in the backseat with Sarah as the four of them headed for the coffee shop.

"All right, Andy," Sam told him. "Tell us everything you know about this guy."

Andrew shrugged, "Well…I mean, not much. Webber shows up one day, like eight months ago acting like he's my best friend in the whole world. Kind of weird, like trying too hard, you know."

"Must have known you guys were twins," said Dean. "Why did he change his name? Why not tell the truth?"

Sam had started rubbing at his eyes first, feeling another vision come on, and then shortly after, Sarah started feeling it too. Sarah leaned back into the seat, her foot pushing against Dean's side of the front seat. This one was even more painful than the other ones.

Dean noticed in the rear-view mirror as Sam started grunting in pain, himself. Sarah was literally in tears. Dean could feel her pushing on the seat as she slid down, and pulled over. At the moment, all Dean was focused on was his daughter and opened her door instead of going around to his brother. It didn't mean he didn't look over at him, now and again.

Dean touched the top of her head as Sarah cried out, watching as Tracy from the coffee shop walked over to the edge of a bridge, wearing nothing but a pink slit gown and hesitantly jumped to her death. When the vision was over, both Sam and Sarah were panting hard. Dean had to get out the ibuprofen, breaking one in half for Sarah while Sam took a whole one.

When Sarah could get a word out, she stated she wanted to sit this confrontation out. Dean was torn on what to do because it meant that she would be waiting in the Impala by herself but Sarah told him it was okay. Dean got her, her gun from the trunk and once they had a plan laid out, the men, including Andrew, hurried to save Tracy.

Sarah lied back, across the seat, looking up at the ceiling. She rubbed at her head, roughly. Three painful visions in the last few days had really taken its toll on her this time. Suddenly, she jumped when she heard the demon greet her from the front seat.

She sat up, staring at him. "What are you doing here?" Sarah asked him, bitterly.

The demon leaned his left arm over the back of the seat, sitting with his back to the door. "We go through this every time, Sarah. I like to check up on you, remember?" he reminded her. "See you met more of my special children."

Sarah stared at the demon, confused. "Your children?"

He nodded, "That's right. You, your uncle, and all those other children… You're all mine."

"If you think I am calling you Dad, think again," she glared at him, coldly.

The demon smirked, looking away, "Oh, Sarah." He looked back at her. "You are so cute and naïve."

Sarah just fumed at him, not saying a word.

"You're still mad at me about dear ol'grandpappy, ain't ya?" he grinned.

"What do you think? Why am I suddenly having these visions of hell again? Why is it always of my grandpa now?"

The demon shrugged, "I thought you would like to see him again. I thought you missed him."

Sarah clenched her fists at her sides, on the seat. "You sick bastard," she blurted out, which she would be thankful her father wasn't in earshot, later.

"And by the way, that new friend of yours, Ellen, is it? I know what you really think of her," the demon told her, pretending like she hadn't said anything.

She asked, "What are you talking about?"

"There's nothing you can't hide from me, Sarah. I know she's what you wanted in your own mother. The way you follow her around, the excitement you get when you see her now. You want so badly for one, don't you? To you, Ellen's that very image, isn't she?"

Sarah looked away, still clenching her fists. It was true. Sarah hated to admit the demon was telling the truth but he was. Since that time she stayed at the Roadhouse and saw how Ellen tried to help her, Sarah saw what Emily never showed towards her, compassion, concern, and affection when Sarah hugged her and Ellen never pushed her away. Sarah couldn't tell anyone though, not even Dean. She wasn't sure what anyone would think especially after Sam stated Dean couldn't fill the hole with just anyone.

Sarah wasn't trying to fill that hole her grandfather left in her heart. It just happened and it hurt to know that nothing would be done about it. To Sarah, all she had room for now, was God, her father, uncle, and what little memory she had of her grandfather. She couldn't let anyone else in and wanted to fight it at all costs. She was still a girl though, slowly becoming a woman and knew her father would always love and care for her, but not even he could fill the shoes that only a mother could.

The demon cut into her thoughts, leaning towards the back of the seat, towards her, "What makes you think she'll give a damn once she learns what you can really do?" After that, the demon was gone.

A tear slowly ran down her right cheek. Sarah quickly wiped it away and stepped out of the Impala, walking over to climb up, onto the trunk and sat down, folding her legs and looked up at the clear, night sky. Looking around her surroundings, she made sure she was alone before praying out loud.

"Please, God. You have to help me," she prayed. "I can't go through this pain anymore. These visions, seeing Grandpa in hell, why can't You make it stop? In Sunday school, they say good triumphs over evil. I see good people dying and evil winning. What does all this prove? Huh? Why let this demon roam free, killing moms and giving psychic powers to infants that come out later? And why did mine come out sooner? What's so special about me? Tell me!" Sarah could feel the hot tears pouring down her face now as she prayed for answers. She knew about hardships that God takes everyone through. She knew everything has a purpose, but what she didn't understand was why give what an adult could barely handle, to a kid? She wanted answers but did not want to have to wait.

_All in the Father's time_, Sarah could remember her grandparents' words in her mind. But Sarah was a kid after all and what kid could sit still and be patient?

A gunshot broke her thoughts as it echoed through the quiet of the night. Sarah looked around, behind her where the noise had come from, slowly reaching behind her to wrap her hand around the handle of her gun, praying to herself that it wasn't her father or uncle who was shot. Her fears were relieved several minutes later when Dean returned.

Sarah jumped off the trunk and met him halfway. "What happened, Dad?" she asked.

"Andrew shot his brother," Dean assured her.

Sarah blew a sigh of relief that it wasn't Sam either and remembered Tracy. "What about the girl?

"She's safe, baby girl. Everyone's fine," he said, holding her right shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, got some rest." Sarah wasn't sure about telling her father the demon had been in the Impala with her. At this point, she wasn't sure how he would react to the demon popping in to "check" on her, now.

The next morning, the cops and the ambulance showed up. Andrew got everyone off the hook before walking over to the Winchesters. Sarah could barely make out what the men were saying. Her mind was still on last night and the demon's visit. She didn't even sleep at all, last night when her father suggested she'd crash in the back seat.

Dean had to nudge her along with his hand when they started to leave before they stopped to look back at Andrew who asked what he was supposed to do. He told Andrew to be good or they had to come back and take him down and started walking again.

Sarah could barely make out Sam say, "Looks like I was right."

"About what?" she heard her father respond.

"About Andy. He's a killer after all."

"No, he's a hero," Dean said. "He saved his girlfriend's life. Saved my life."

Sarah's head shot straight up when she heard Dean needed saving but didn't say anything.

"Bottom line, last night, he wasted somebody," Sam told his brother.

Dean looked ahead, wrapping his arm around Sarah's head, who had rested her head against him, "Yeah, but he's not a forming-at-the-mouth psycho killer. He was… He was pushed into that."

Sam stared at him, "Webber was pushed too, in his own way. Max Miller was pushed. Hell, I was pushed by Jessica's death. I bet if something would to happen to you, Sarah would be pushed too."

Dean stopped walking to look at his brother. "What's your point, Sam?" he asked, brushing his thumb along Sarah's hair.

"Right circumstances, everyone is capable of murder. Everyone. You know, maybe that's what the demon is doing, pushing us, finding ways to break us."

Sarah looked up at her uncle. It made sense to her. Why she was having visions, and seeing hell.

"Sam, we don't know what the demon wants, okay?" Dean removed his hand from his daughter's head and slapped his brother's arm, playfully, "Quit worrying about it" before walking over to the Impala.

Sarah followed as Sam walked around to his side.

"You know, I heard you before Dean," said Sam, "when Andy made you tell the truth. You're just as scared as this as I am."

"That was mind control," Dean told him, defensively. "It's like being roofied, man. It doesn't count."

Sam questioned, "What?"

"No, I uh…I'm calling do-over."

"What are you, seven?" Sam shook his head.

"Doesn't matter," Dean told him. "Look, we gotta keep doing what we're doing, find that evil son of a bitch and kill it." At that point, his cell phone rang, making Dean look down to take it out of his pocket.

"Yeah, I guess," Sam said feeling defeated with his brother.

When Sarah heard it was Ellen, she started biting her lower lip. She wasn't feeling up to going back to the Roadhouse right after the chat she had with the demon but what choice did she have. Sarah opened her door and climbed into the back seat. During the drive there, she couldn't help but continue to think about what the demon had told her. If her father had gotten that mad over her practicing her abilities at the Roadhouse around other hunters, how would Ellen, Jo, and Ash react to it? Sarah found it hard to picture Ellen treating her the same way her other family treated her. On the other hand, Sarah barely knew them.

Sarah put on her headphones and turned on her PSP, going into her music and scrolled down the list of songs before stopping on one in particular. Pressing play, she couldn't help mouth the words to an old _Rugrats_ movie song, leaning her head back and replayed it every time it ended until she fell asleep, holding onto her monkey.

When she woke up, she was lying in one of the beds in the spare bedroom of the Roadhouse. Throwing back the covers, she threw her shoes back on and wandered out to where Dean and Sam were talking to Ellen who was standing on the other side of the bar. She swallowed hard, feeling like her feet were stuck to the floor as she mentioned Andrew.

Sam snapped his niece out of her thoughts, raising her anxiety level. "There are people out there. Like Andy Gallagher. Like me...Like Sarah," he told her.

Sarah was biting down on her lip as she watched for a reaction from Ellen.

"And um…" Sam shook his head. "We all have some kind of ability."

Ellen shook her head as well, "Ability?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Psychic ability."

Sarah saw Dean look away, shaking his head but Ellen wasn't saying anything which made things harder on her.

"Sarah and I, we have, um, visions." He paused for a second. "Premonitions. Sarah can move things with her mind which you have experienced before." Ellen still didn't respond but had noticed Sarah was standing there, listening, out of the corner of her eye as Sam continued. "I don't know, it's different for everybody. The demon said he had plans for people like us."

Ellen unglued her focus from Sarah to look back at Sam. "What kind of plans?" she asked.

He shrugged, "We don't really know that for sure."

"These people out there, these psychics," said Ellen. "They dangerous?"

"No," Dean finally spoke up, shifting on his stool. "Not all of them."

Sam looked between his brother and Ellen, "But some are. Some are very dangerous."

"Okay, how many are we looking at?" she asked.

"We've been able to track a clear pattern so far," Dean told her, looking away before looking at her. "They all had house fires the night of the kid's six-month birthday."

"That's not true," Sam said.

Dean looked at his brother, "What?"

"Webber, or Anson Reems, or whatever his name is. I looked at his files, and there was no house fire. There's nothing out of the ordinary."

"Which breaks pattern," said Ellen. "So if there's anyone like him, there'd be nothing in the system. No way to track them all down." She shook her head.

Dean stared at the bar in front of him, "So who knows how many are really out there?"

No one said anything for a moment until Ellen called back to Jo who had walked up and was listening quietly to them, "Jo, honey."

Jo was standing there with her arms folded, lightly, "Yeah?"

"Better break out the whiskey instead," she told her.


	59. Chapter 58

**Sorry, it's been a hectic last week, plus Easter weekend. I did get a chance to write over the weekend but didn't have internet access. There should be two more chapters today after this once I revise and upload them. **

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 58

Early, before the Winchesters decided to hit the road for another hunt, while Sarah was tying her shoes, Dean came into the room they were staying in and called her name. She looked up and he tossed a baseball glove to her.

"It's been a while since we tossed the ball around and you've been looking like you could use it," he said with a grin, his own glove under his arm as he tossed the ball between his hands.

Sarah stared at it. The last time she tossed the ball around was during her week at Bobby's. "Sure," she finally agreed and stood up to walk over to Dean. Dean smiled at her and walked outside to the parking lot where they stood at either end. Sarah shoved her glove on her left hand while Dean did the same and tossed the ball to her. Sarah reached out to the left a little to catch it and threw it back.

For an hour, they tossed the ball back and forth not saying a word. That was usually how Dean and Sarah did it. Barely a word gets uttered except for the occasional "What was kind of throw (or catch) was that?" or "You are defiantly getting that" or Dean giving her some pointers he remembered his own father or Bobby gave him.

They didn't know it, but they had an audience watching through a window, inside the Roadhouse. Sam, Ellen, and Jo stood there, watching as father and daughter bonded. None of them said a word until Ash walked over curious.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Is there a rumble going on out there?"

Sam shook his head. "Not unless you count arguing over whose gonna go fetch a bad throw."

Ash shrugged them off and walked away.

After the hour was up, Dean and Sarah returned inside to grab their stuff and took it out to the Impala.

"Los Angeles, California," Dean said as he shut the trunk closed.

"What's in L.A.?" Sam asked as the three of them walked over to get into the car.

Sarah walked slowly behind her father, still not in the mood to hunt again. Secretly, she wanted to sit this one out but wasn't saying anything. Sarah figured she probably should or risk getting hurt or possibly killed because of some stupid mistake she could make that would have been avoided and the boys have lost enough as it was, already.

"Young girl's been kidnapped by an evil cult," Dean explained.

Sam responded, "Yeah? Girl got a name?"

Dean fiddled with his keys in his hands, looking down. "Katie Holmes," he said, looking up.

Sam snickered, "That's funny. And for you, so bitchy."

There was a loud crashing sound that came from inside the Roadhouse and they could hear Ellen and Jo arguing between each other. "Of course, on the other hand, catfight," Dean shrugged, pointing over his shoulder and the three of them headed inside to check it out.

"Dad, I don't think it's okay to walk in when someone is having a conversation," Sarah told her father.

"It's fine, baby girl," he assured her, touching the top of her head before heading inside.

Ellen and Jo were arguing about Jo leaving to go check out a hunt she had found until Jo noticed the Winchesters were standing there and Ellen turned around as well. "Guys, bad time," Ellen told them.

"Yes, ma'am," said Sam.

"It was Dad's idea," Sarah ratted her father out who rolled his eyes and turned to her.

"Remind me not to rob a bank with you," he said.

"Why would you rob a bank in the first place?" she asked him.

Dean sighed before turning to leave the Roadhouse, "Never mind."

Jo stopped them, "Wait. I wanna know what they think about this."

The Winchesters stopped to turn back around just as a tourist family walked in of a husband, wife, and twin boys around the age of three.

"I don't care what they think," Ellen snapped back, surprising Sarah. This was a whole new sight she hasn't seen yet of Ellen and up to this point, Sarah still wasn't sure what Ellen thought of this secret of hers and Sam's.

"Are you guys open?" the father had asked as they looked around at the empty place.

Jo screamed, "No," while Ellen screamed, "Yes."

Everything got quiet as the husband and wife exchanged confused looks. "We'll just check out the Arby's down the road," the husband pointed behind him with his thumb before the family turned to leave.

Sarah watched the family the whole time with sadness in her eyes. That was what she wanted more than anything. A mother and a father, going on real vacations, having family fun time that usually most kids hate when their parents dragged them on. It was great having a father and an uncle, going on hunts, saving people but sometimes, it would be great to have that too.

There was more awkward silence until the phone rang. Ellen and Jo looked back at it, together and exchanged looks before Jo motioned for her mother to answer it. Ellen walked over and answered it while Jo turned back around to hold up a vanilla folder to the Winchesters.

"Three weeks ago, a young girl disappears from a Philadelphia apartment," she told them.

Dean looked at it.

"Take it, it won't bite."

"No, but your mom might," he replied, nodding towards Ellen.

Jo gave him a look that said, "Just take it" and Dean grabbed it out of her hand, forcibly. "And this girl wasn't the first," she continued. Over the past eighty years, six women have vanished. All from the same building, all young blonds."

Dean flipped through the articles and maps, slowly as he listened.

"Only happens every decade or two, so cops never eyeball the pattern. So we're either dealing with one very old serial killer or…"

"Who put this together?" he asked, impressed by how organized and detailed the folder contents were. "Ash?"

"I did it myself," she told him, proudly.

Dean was speechless and looked back don't at the folder to continue skimming through it, "Hm."

"I have to admit," Sam spoke up, "we hit the road for a lot less."

Ellen walked up again, at that point, "Good. You like the case so much, you take it."

"Mom," Jo tried to argue again.

"Joanna Beth," Ellen scolded, "this family has lost enough. I won't lose you too." She looked over at Dean, who looked down at his own daughter and squeezed the back of her neck. With being a parent himself, Dean could understand where Ellen was coming from. "I just won't."

The room was quiet again before Sam and Dean turned to leave. Sarah stood there, staring at the floor with her hands shoved into the pockets of her jacket.

"Come on, Sarah," Dean called back once he reached the door, his hand on it.

Sarah did not look up.

"What's wrong, Peanut?" Sam asked, concerned why she was just standing there, not saying anything.

"I, uh…" Sarah finally looked up. "My head's been hurting all morning…"

Dean motioned for her with his head, "I'll give you another ibuprofen and you can sleep on the way there. Come on, let's go."

She looked at her father. "Can I…" Sarah paused for a moment before she continued. "Can I sit this hunt out? I promise, just one more hunt."

"Why?" he questioned.

"Those visions I had on the last hunt took a lot out of me and I don't think I can focus well yet." Though that was the truth, it just wasn't the whole truth. Sarah wanted to talk something out with Ellen, something she knew she had to get off her chest and she had a lot on her plate to deal with as it was. One less thing dealt with would lift a lot of weight off her shoulders.

Ellen spoke up for the kid, "You know she's always welcome here."

Dean didn't want to but gave in anyway. If Sarah couldn't focus, he wasn't about to let her get hurt. "Fine, but remember what I told you, no practicing your mind thing around hunters. If I hear from Ellen, or Jo, or even Ash that you tried at all…"

Sarah nodded. "I know, Dad," she said, masking her annoyance.

He made to turn and head out the door, "Come get your stuff then out of the trunk. Thanks, Ellen."

"Any time," Ellen replied.

Sarah followed her father and uncle outside and grabbed her duffel bag from the trunk and her toys from the backseat, including her monkey and PSP. Sam hugged and kissed her first then Dean kneeled down to her level and pulled Sarah into a tight hug.

"We'll be back as soon as we can, okay?" he told her.

Sarah nodded from his right shoulder and gave her father a kiss on the cheek and Dean did the same. After the long good-byes, Sam and Dean got into the Impala and drove off for Philadelphia.

Once Sam and Dean were gone, Sarah headed inside and tossed her stuff onto the bed, she and Dean had shared the night before. Heading back down the hall, she saw Jo's door open a crack and could hear a lot of moving around. She walked over and pushed on the door as she knocked on it.

Jo jumped, looking back at the little girl. "Oh, it's just you, Sarah," she said, relieved and returned to shoving some clothes into a backpack. "This isn't a good time."

Sarah closed the door behind her and walked over to sit on Jo's bed, beside the young woman, "Are you going somewhere, Jo?" Jo had told Sarah she could drop the formality, that just Jo was fine to her.

"No," was all she said as Jo continued to shove everything in.

Sarah folded her arms across her chest and stared up at her. "You're going after the thing my dad and uncle went after, aren't you?"

Jo ignored the little girl. Sarah never liked being ignored either. She slammed her left hand down on the backpack, preventing Jo from continuing.

"You are, aren't you," the little girl repeated, staring at Jo.

"What is it to you, Sarah?" Jo asked. "You're just a kid. You wouldn't understand."

"I understand your mom doesn't want you to go," Sarah told her.

"And I suppose you do everything your dad tells you," Jo crossed her arms too.

"Yes," she replied. "I may complain to myself but I do it because I know my dad says things for my own good."

Jo looked away at the floor for a moment then glanced up at her with just her eyes. "What if it was for your mom?"

"Dad knows better than Mom ever did," Sarah stated and just sat there, staring up at her.

"You…you don't miss your mom at all?" Jo asked, looking over at the kid fully now.

Sarah shrugged. "Not really…but…"

"What?"

She looked away, removing her arm from Jo's backpack. "Nothing, just something I've been thinking about." Sarah looked back. "You're lucky, you know."

Jo stared back at her, confused, "About what?"

"You have a mom that cares about you, that isn't afraid of you. That would probably hold you if you were scared of the tree branch shadow reflected off your wall late at night. Right?"

Jo smiled down at her backpack, stuffing hygiene stuff in there. The next question made her remove her smile.

"What happened to your dad? Did you ever have one?"

Jo did not answer right away. "I was…I was still in pigtails when my dad died," she finally told her.

"And that means…what?" Sarah shrugged, an eye brow raised.

"I was about four or five, but I remember my dad coming home from a hunt like he was Steve McQueen or something," she forced a smile.

"No idea who that is, but okay," Sarah said, wanting her to continue.

"He would lift me up into his arms…and I'd breathe in that old leather jacket of his. And my mom who was sour and pissed from the minute he left, she started smiling again. We were…we were a family." Jo returned to packing as Sarah stared down at the floor in front of her. "What about you? You must have some happy memory of your mom."

Sarah thought about it for a couple minutes. "I was six. I had gotten a gold star on a test we had taken that day in kindergarten. Gold stars meant you got every problem right and only one other had gotten one besides me. My mom picked me up from school and I showed it to her. To this day I swear I saw her smile. She wanted to be proud. She didn't say anything except good job like it wasn't a big deal. I kind of hoped that would have made her say she was proud to have me as a daughter but if she did, my mom never said anything. She'd complain to her cousin though."

Jo was now zipping her backpack closed, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Has your mom ever tell you she was proud, or showed it?" Sarah asked.

"Many times, actually when I was growing up," she admitted with a smile.

"Yeah, that's what I figured." Sarah brought her knees up, hanging her feet off the bedframe and folded her arms on top. "Your mom's the coolest mom I ever met."

"You have a pretty cool dad," Jo slung her backpack on one shoulder.

"Yeah, my dad's the best but…" Sarah stopped in mid-sentence.

Jo sat down next to the kid and put the arm that held onto the backpack strap, around her, "He can't fill what only a mom could?"

Sarah looked at the young woman, surprised she knew what Sarah was feeling. "Yeah, how did you know?"

She rubbed Sarah's opposite, upper, right arm. "Because that's how I feel without my dad." She shrugged, "My mom's always there for me just like I'm sure your dad is for you but there's just some times when a girl needs her dad like a girl needs a mom." Jo paused for a moment. "I want to do this hunt for my dad, so I could be close to him. Tell me, what's wrong with that?"

Sarah looked away again, towards the right of her, at the far wall.

Jo hugged Sarah to her. "My mom really likes you, you know," she pointed out. "Thinks about you a lot. Why don't you go talk to her about how you feel?" With that, Jo stood up. "By the way, if you keep quiet about me leaving, I will buy you a pack of those cards you collect. Deal?"

"Make that two packs," Sarah crossed her arms in front of her.

"Fine," she agreed.

"Then it's a deal. My lips are sealed." Sarah made like she was locking her mouth shut and threw away an imaginary key.

Jo smiled before leaving the room, leaving Sarah to her own thoughts. She sat there for fifteen minutes just thinking about what Jo had said before Sarah stood up and went in search for Ellen.


	60. Chapter 59

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 59

Ellen was getting everything ready for the day, wiping down the top of each stool with a wet rag.

"Miss Ellen?" Sarah said as she walked from the back of the Roadhouse, slowly.

"Yes, sweetheart?" Ellen asked, looking up at the kid.

"Do you have a minute?" she asked.

"Sure, what's on your mind?"

Sarah stared at the floor, rubbing the back of her head. She found it hard to get anything out. She didn't even know where to begin either.

"Sarah," Ellen said, starting to get worried. "What's going on? Talk to me, is it about the demon?"

She shook her head at the floor.

"Your abilities?"

Again, Sarah shook her head.

"What is it then?"

Sarah shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket, "You still like me, right? Even now that you know what Uncle Sam and I are?"

Ellen started wiping down another stool, "Of course. It's not like you're a monster or anything. You're a sweet kid, Sarah and like I said, I think about you. Wonder why your dad lets you hunt in the first place though."

"I like to hunt," she shrugged, finally looking up at Ellen.

"Don't matter, your dad is supposed to keep you out of harm's way, not let you go near it." Ellen wiped another stool off, not looking up.

"It was the demon who taught me what was really out there. He told me about hunting and sparked my interest to start reading about it. It's better to hunt then to be afraid all the time."

Ellen stopped but didn't look up. She leaned on her left hand, holding the rag in her other one. Sarah wondered what it was she was thinking about as she stood there, watching Ellen.

"What's the matter?" Sarah finally asked after a few seconds.

Ellen sniffed in and returned to wiping off the stool. "Nothing's wrong, sweetheart."

Sarah wasn't convinced but left it alone anyway. "Anyway, I um…I wanted to say that…It's just…" She stopped, finding it hard to get the rest of it out and went over to one of the arm chairs, throwing herself into one.

Ellen watched her. She tossed the rag onto the bar and walked over to Sarah, sitting in the arm chair next to hers, facing Sarah. "Sweetheart, whatever it is you can tell me."

Sarah had her knees up to her, resting her arms across her stomach as she stared at her legs. "It's never easy to just tell someone what's on my mind," she said. "I never know who is listening and who's not."

"Well, I'm listening," Ellen shrugged. "Start talking."

Sarah looked over at the woman for a few seconds. She sat up, on the edge of the chair and stared at the floor again. Not knowing where else to start, Sarah just said, "You're… Miss Ellen, you're everything I wanted my mom to be, pretty much."

"What do you mean?" Ellen wasn't sure what Sarah meant.

"That night you and Jo came in when I had lost it and you didn't flinch when I hugged you…" she began, looking over at Ellen.

"Yeah?" asked Ellen.

"That's all I ever wanted my mom to do, comfort me when I needed it whether it was because I was scared or upset. You, my dad, Uncle Sam, even Grandpa, you gave me what I wanted."

"And what's that?"

A tear was falling from Sarah's left eye as she looked over at her. "Compassion," she replied. "That's why I like being around you, Miss Ellen. I wish I had a mom like Jo has. Like you."

Ellen sat there, touched and utter surprised. "I didn't know you felt that way, sweetheart," she said when it wore off enough.

"I was scared of getting close on the count of what I can do," she admitted. "And especially after my dad reprimanded me for practicing around you."

"I thought you had just thrown it, that you were hurting over your grandfather's death," she shrugged.

"I was hurting. Still am, actually. I finally told Dad and Uncle Sam, Grandpa's secret when he didn't want me to," said Sarah.

"What was the secret?" she asked.

Sarah looked down at the floor again. "How he had made a deal with the demon to save my dad," she said. It still didn't feel any better saying it out loud again. Sarah wasn't sure why she had told Ellen, she just did.

Ellen sat in thought for a moment and stood up to sit on the edge of the coffee table, reaching out towards Sarah. "Come here," she told her in a soft voice.

Sarah, confused, stood up and allowed Ellen to pull her towards her and had Sarah sit on her right leg. Ellen wrapped her arms around her waist, "Whatever your mom was, that was her lost. Okay? You have a dad and uncle I could tell loves you very much, especially your dad. Why he makes you hunt, I don't know but it seems like he is protective of you, at least, from how he doesn't like you out of his sight. As for Jo and I, we fell in love with you since you stayed with us before and I have to admit, every time I'm around you, my motherly instincts go off like crazy."

Sarah looked at her, surprised this time, herself, "Really?"

Ellen nodded. "You remind me a lot of Jo at your age."

"I do?" she asked.

"You bet, you're both stubborn tomboys," Ellen couldn't help laugh.

Sarah smiled at that. "My mom never accepted me being a tomboy." Tears started to fill up in her eyes.

Ellen noticed the tears and wrapped Sarah into a motherly embrace, "Any time you need a mother's shoulder to cry on, my door is always open, Sarah. Always."

Sarah could feel the heavy burden she had been carrying rise off her shoulders, a burden that longed for a mother's support. She now had a father, a mother figure, a more caring grandfather or rather had, and two uncles thrown in, as well as an older sister, possibly. What more could a girl could ask for?

The next day, Ellen had noticed Jo was missing and had a suspicion where she was. She asked Sarah but Sarah lied and said she didn't know where Jo was. Not that Sarah enjoyed it, considering Sarah had just opened up to the woman just one day ago. So Ellen called Dean who also said he didn't know where Jo was. It was another day later that Ellen finally got it out of Sarah by holding her down and tickling her, and called Dean back. It was too late though. Jo had gotten kidnapped by the spirit they were hunting. Furious, Ellen said she was taking the first flight out.

Banging on Ash's door, she asked him to watch out for Sarah while she was gone.

"I ain't no babysitter," Ash started, not too thrilled about having to watch a kid, but after a threat and how Sarah was independent, he agreed.

Ellen turned on her heel to head out the door.

Ash looked over at Sarah, who was leaning her left hand against the wall, smirking and had her fist on her side. "Fasten your seatbelt, mullet boy," she told him. "It's gonna be one hell of a ride."

He flinched his head back, unbelieved a kid could sound like that and leaned his forearm against the door frame. "You know, my daddy would take a switch to our behinds for speaking to an adult that way," he told her.

Sarah just smiled. "Oh yeah?" she said. "My daddy would break your entire hand if you tried it."

Ash just rolled his eyes and went to shut his door. Sarah moved to stick her foot in the way to block it.

"Need any help with the research?" she offered.

"From a kid, no," he replied, bluntly.

"I heard you having problems with your laptop, maybe I could take a look at it. Technology's been my thing for a couple years now, besides hunting."

Ash raised an eye brow at the kid. "No thanks, it's fixed."

"Well, can I at least come in and hang out?" she asked.

"No," he said, bluntly again.

"Come on, us smart ones have to stick together. It's like a rule."

"What rule?" he demanded.

Sarah shrugged, "I don't know but I'm sure there is one."

Remembering the hunters out there, Ash went out there to serve drinks. Unfortunately for him, Sarah tagged along. Sarah just wanted to mess with him, it wasn't like when she tagged around with Ellen.

When it was closing time, Ash and Sarah cleaned up the place before Ash returned to his room. As much as Sarah wouldn't want to admit it, she felt tired and retreated to her own room.

The next morning, Sarah woke up to the familiar sound of the Impala's engine pulling up. She threw back the covers and jumped out of bed to run down the hall and outside where everyone was getting out of the car. Sarah rushed right over to her father and jumped into his arms, taking Dean by surprise.

"Does this mean you're back to your old, cheery self?" he asked as Ellen was leading Jo inside, a grin on his face.

Sarah grinned back, "For now."

Dean squeezed his daughter tight. "I missed you, baby girl. With all of your experience, I wish you had other options besides hunting. I should never have brought you into this. I worry about you so much."

Sarah let go of her father's neck to look at him. "I once said that I wanted to take over the family business when I grow up but now…" She trailed off.

"What?" he asked her, urging Sarah to continue.

"Uncle Bobby made me an offer once that I was welcomed to quit hunting and stay at his house and go back to school while you went on hunts. Dad, when this is over and the demon is dead for good, I think I'm gonna take him up on that offer."

Both he and Sam were impressed and shocked by Sarah's decision. It wasn't long though before Jo stormed from the Roadhouse and snapped them out of it. Concerned, Dean set his daughter down to see if Jo was all right. At first, Jo did not want anything to do with him but decided to tell them how it was John that had gotten her own father killed on his last hunt and why John had never told his boys about them. It broke Sarah's heart to hear her grandfather was the one responsible but she knew John probably didn't do it on purpose.

That was a week ago.

Now here Sarah was, sitting in the backseat and it wasn't the Impala. She leaned against the car door with her arms folded, tight as she stared out the window. Mark sat on the other side of the backseat, while Greg and Beth sat up front with Greg driving.

"I am so disappointed in you, right now, Sarah Lynn," Greg was saying, holding the steering wheel in both hands. "First you don't even call us when you check out of the hospital. Now I hear you were involved with your dad, murdering someone?"

"My dad did not murder that girl," Sarah spat at her grandfather, angrily for the umpteenth time since the night before.

"Then what was he doing there with blood on his hands?"

"We were trying to help her," she said.

Beth twisted around in her seat to look back at her. "Help her with what?" she asked more gentle than her husband.

Sarah returned to looking out her window.

"Answer your grandmother, Sarah Lynn," Greg told her.

"I can't," she stated without any eye contact whatsoever.

"Why not?" he asked, his voice a little too demanding.

"I just can't."

Greg let out a long, frustrated breath of air, while watching the road. "Sarah, you are already going to be punished for giving the police a hard time, do you want to make it worse?"

Sarah glared over at her grandfather, "First of all, you're not my dad. Second, for some odd reason I still care about you guys and if you knew the truth it could put you in danger."

Mark had been listening as he looked out his window. He looked over at Sarah. "Is your dad part of a mob? Is that the family business you mentioned back in Nebraska?"

Sarah quickly turned to look at her second cousin. "No my dad is not the mob," she snapped at him.

"Sarah, I need you to get serious and tell us what really happened. If your dad really didn't murder that girl, then maybe the truth could get him off," Greg told her, trying to keep his cool.

"I am serious," she replied. "I cannot tell any of you!" Sarah was not trying to raise her voice but her other family just had that effect on her emotions.

"You just got fifteen more, for raising your voice," Greg calmly stated.

"You're not gonna touch me. Dad's the only one who can spank me now," she told him.

"Sarah Lynn, we are still your grandparents and you will show us some respect."

Sarah leaned forward in her seat, "I'll show you respect when you start showing me some respect."

Greg just shook his head. "That's enough for now until we get to the hotel. I can't even talk to you anymore without wanting to lose my temper."

Sarah leaned back, her arms folded even tighter, "Good, because I really don't want to talk either."

"You better not act like this when I get you home," Mark spoke up again.

Sarah was staring out the window. "Who says I'm going with you? Next phone I find, I'm calling my uncle Bobby to come get me."

"No you're not, you're coming to live with me," he told her.

"No, I'm not," she argued.

"Mark…just…just stop. I am going to deal with her once we're to the hotel," Greg stepped in the middle before there was another argument in the car. "I can't believe there's not a single nice hotel here, by the way."

Sarah muttered, "Yeah, it's not like you have to live in your car and in crappy motel rooms all the time."

Either none of them heard her or they just didn't care because no one responded. The rest of the car ride was quiet which suited Sarah just fine as she thought about the last couple of days.

The Winchesters were grabbing coffee as Dean looked through the newspaper. Sam walked up to their table, carrying the drinks. "There you go, Peanut," he said, setting Sarah's chocolate milk in front of her and set Dean's coffee in front him.

Dean closed the newspaper. "Anthony Giles," he said, laying it down.

"Who's Anthony Giles?" Sarah asked, shaking her chocolate milk before she opened it.

"A Baltimore lawyer," he replied. "Working late at his office. Check it out."

Sarah went to reach for it but Sam grabbed it instead. "Hey, I was gonna read it," she whined to her uncle.

"What difference does it make?" asked Sam.

Dean reached over and snatched the newspaper from his brother and handed it to his daughter, "Here, Baby Girl," he told her.

"Thanks, Dad," Sarah smiled at him, taking it and read the article Dean was reading, out loud. "Do you think it could be a spirit?"

"Could be," he shrugged.

"Should we check it out?"

"I think so, what do you think, Scully? Should we check it out?" Dean turned to Sam.

"I'm not Scully. You're Scully," he told him.

"No, I'm Molder," said Dean. "You're a redheaded woman."

"I don't understand that reference," Sarah shook her head.

"TV show before your time," said Dean.

Sarah continued skimming the newspaper when a concert article caught her eye. It was a concert that was playing at the end of the week for the country singer, Carrie Underwood. Sarah grew excited, "Dad, can you take me to see Carrie Underwood?" she asked, showing him the article.

Dean took the newspaper back to look at the article, "Who?"

"Carrie Underwood," Sarah repeated. "She's the only country singer my mom got me into. I really like her. Can we go if we finish the case in time?"

"Sarah, you know I hate country," he reminded her.

"But it's Carrie Underwood, Dad. She's different than the rest of them. Please?" Sarah tried to give her best puppy-dog look to soften her father up.

Sam shrugged, "I don't mind country. Maybe I can take you, Peanut. Just me and you, and your dad can go off to a bar or something."

Sarah looked over at her uncle. "Okay," she gave in, a little disappointed. She wanted her father to go with her but maybe it won't be so bad with her uncle.

"There," Dean smirked. "Everyone's happy. You both have fun, square-dancing."

"Carrie Underwood doesn't square-dance, Dad," she told him. "She's pop and country mixed." Sarah then pulled out her PSP and went into her music to play one of Carrie Underwood's songs.

"At least you're not into that chick other girls are into these days," Dean shrugged, before taking a drink of his coffee. "What's her name? Stella California?"

"You mean Hannah Montana?" Sam questioned his brother.

Dean snapped his fingers towards him, "That's the one."

"Stella California? That doesn't even go together."

"Whatever. Let's go." He stood up and the three of them headed back to where Dean parked.

The Winchesters did invest the case, talking to Tony Giles' wife, Karen Giles first before checking out his office late the night before. The main thing Sarah remembered and could not shake was the name they had found, _Dana Shulps_. It was really stumping her and Sam could not find anything on it when he and Sarah searched for it online.

Eventually, Dean had gotten bored and left to go check on Karen and ask a few more questions. When he showed up at her house, Karen was already dead and Dean noticed some bruises on her arms. That was when the police had showed up and found Dean over the body. They caught up to Sam and Sarah at the motel they were staying in. Since Sarah was just a kid, they had called Greg and let Sarah go after asking her a few questions. Sarah did everything Dean had taught her to do if she ever got into that situation: tell the truth but lie about it. Of course, being Dean's daughter, she had to throw in some wise cracks which did not sit too well with her grandfather.

Now, here she was with the people she would least like to see. A visit from the demon was better than this and Sarah hated the demon. Before she knew it, Greg was pulling into the parking lot of a hotel and headed for the main office to rent a room.


	61. Chapter 60

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 60

Sarah lied on one of the beds in the hotel room, trying to rub the sting from her backside. I t hurt so much, she couldn't even lie on her back. She silently cried to herself, wanting her father so badly and prayed Dean would somehow get away or they would find a way to prove his innocence.

Her grandfather was sitting at the small table, talking with his wife and nephew. Finally, he looked over at Sarah and asked, "Ready for our discussion?"

Sarah refused to answer or look back at him.

"If you ignore me, I will give you another spanking, Sarah," he told her.

"I'm listening," she snapped out at him without lifting her head.

"Then tell me you are," he told her and stood up, walking towards where his granddaughter was. "First of all, why didn't you call us when you checked out of the hospital?"

She stayed silent, earning a hard swat to her backside which hurt twice as much, watering her eyes.

"Answer me, Sarah Lynn," Greg said, very sternly.

"I had a lot on my mind, okay," she finally responded.

"Lot on your mind, huh," he said, his hands on his sides. "Maybe I should not pay my bills because I have a lot on my mind. Can't do yard work, I have too much on my mind. Run errands? Nope, too much on my mind."

Sarah clenched her fist that held onto one of the pillows. Suddenly, she jumped up onto her knees and glared at her grandfather. "Grandpa died, you moron! My favorite grandpa, I might add. I saw him die, too. It's a lot to cope with."

Beth stood up and went over to her suitcase, pulling out a brand new bar of soap. Greg snatched Sarah off the bed by her arm and kept a firm grip on her.

"You do not talk to us like that, young lady," he scolded her. Greg then held her nose, forcing Sarah to open her mouth so Beth could wash her mouth out with soap. Sarah fought against her grandparents but for an old man in his mid-fifties, Greg was strong. Once they managed to wash Sarah's mouth out, Beth put the soap away and let Greg continue.

"I want to know what is it you have been doing this past year since your father picked you up from our house," he said. "First your eye, then the car crash, and now this? Also, if you drive across the country, where does your father gain income? If I even want to know."

Sarah sat up, onto her legs to get off her still stinging backside. "I told you, I cannot tell you."

"Then you can sit there until you're ready to talk." Greg then decided to head out to grab an early dinner. "You're lucky the police didn't know about your high IQ, Sarah or you wouldn't have been able to leave," he said as he threw his jacket back on.

Sarah was left to her own thoughts once more. She continued to think about the case and the name, _Dana Shulps_. "Dana Shulps. Dana Shulps," she kept repeating to herself, quietly.

Mark was flipping through the TV channels, lying on the other bed. "What are you mumbling about over there, kiddo?" he asked, his left arm slumped over his head, against the wall behind him.

She ignored her second cousin. "Dana Shulps." Realization hit her, lifting her upper self, up. "What if it's not a name? What if it's…?" Sarah jumped off the bed and grabbed a pad of paper from the nightstand in between the bed that had the hotel's logo on it and a pen, writing _Dana Shulps _at the top and started writing different words, using the same letters.

"What'cha writing there?" Mark asked.

Sarah continued writing, "Anagram."

"A what?" he asked, confused.

"Anagram. Same letters, different words." Sarah thought good and hard about it. When she wrote down Ashland, she remembered her father driving through a street nearby with that name. "That's it!" she figured out. Whatever was going on had to do with that street.

"What is it, Sarah?" Mark continued to ask.

Sarah looked up. Her grandfather was gone, her grandmother was in the bathroom, and Mark couldn't walk. She may get into trouble later by her father for leaving a hotel by herself but she had to investigate this Ashland Street and possibly clear her father's name and take the _fair _punishment later. Of course, Sarah wasn't thinking about St. Louis at the moment.

Sarah sprinted from the room and down the hall as Mark yelled after her. She was running so fast Sarah bumped into a pair of legs, thankfully belonging to her uncle.

"Peanut?" Sam asked, taken by surprise.

"Uncle Sam!" Sarah threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his legs.

When Sam noticed Mark was calling for Sarah, he grabbed his niece up and quickly unlocked a room he had rented out and slipped in, locking it behind him. Sam set Sarah down, kneeling to her level. "What are you doing here?" he asked of her.

"They called Papa…" Sarah threw herself back on her uncle, squeezing his neck as she started crying. "I hate them, Uncle Sam. I really do. I never want to see them again."

Sam held his niece his arms, comforting her as he rubbed her back up and down. "Shh shh, it's okay, Peanut. Tell me what happened."

Sarah told Sam the entire thing since they picked her up. "It hurts so bad I can't sit, Uncle Sammy," she continued to cry, her head on his right shoulder.

Sam had never been so heated in his entire life. He could understand punishing Sarah for talking the way she had but to do it for that long and hard, boiled his blood. Sam had to refrain from running in there and giving those people a piece of his mind. "Can I take a look, Peanut? Just for a second to see the damage, I promise."

Sarah nodded and lifted her head from his shoulder. Sam undid her jeans for her since Sarah's hands were shaking so much, and took a quick peek at her backside. It was a dark red and Sam could see a welt.

"Why don't you go take a bath to help with the soreness while I look into the case, your dad and I figured out what Dana Shulps is," he suggested.

"So did I, it's an anagram," Sarah told him. "It's a street called Ashland, right?"

Sam nodded, "That's what we figure it is. Good job, Peanut," and hugged her one last time, kissing the side of her head.

While Sam researched on his laptop, Sarah relaxed in the bathtub, letting the cool water soothe her stinging backside. She was glad to be at least with her uncle instead with her other family. Sarah still wished her father was there though. As she floated in the water, she heard the door open and soon heard Sam talking to what sounded like the officer who had asked her questions at the station.

Quickly letting the water out, Sarah got out to dry off and tossed her clothes back on. Her backside still stung a little but not as much as it did before. Opening the door, Sarah exited the bathroom to, indeed find the officer there.

"How did you get here?" she asked Sarah when the officer saw her. "You were picked up by your…"

"It's just so happens my Papa checked into the same hotel my uncle here did," Sarah told her. "What's going on?"

The officer explained what she had seen, a pale, young woman with her throat slashed and a lot of blood. She also explained how it looked like the spirit was trying to tell her something. Sam explained how he had been researching every woman who had either died or gone missing from Ashland Street, walking over to his laptop and sitting down. He handed a stack of photos to the officer and told her to let him know if any of the women looked familiar.

The officer sat down, glancing over at Sam to stare at him on how he had gotten a hold of the photos, and looked through them until she came to the one she recognized.

"Clair Becker?" he read the name. "Twenty-eight years old. Disappeared about eight or nine months ago."

"But I don't even know her," the officer shook her head. "Why would she come after me?"

"Well, before her death, she was arrested twice for dealing heroin," Sam explained to her. "You ever work narcotics?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Pete and I did. Before homicide."

"Did you ever arrest her?" Sarah asked from Sam's opposite side from the officer.

She shook her head this time, "Not that I remember."

Sam was reading Clair Becker's file. "It says she was last seen entering 2911 Ashland Street. Police searched the place, didn't find anything."

"So we gotta check it out ourselves then," Sarah said, leaning on her folded arms, on the table. Maybe her body is still there."

The officer stared over at the kid, "What?" she questioned.

"We have to salt and burn her bones so she can finally be put to rest," Sarah explained to her.

Sam nodded at the officer, agreeing with his niece.

"Of course it is," the officer replied.

On the way out, Sam checked out in the hallway first to see if Sarah's other family was around. "Which door is theirs, Peanut?" he asked his niece.

Sarah carefully poked her head out the door, holding onto her uncle's leg, looking down the hallway to her right. "That one," she pointed over, across the hall, four doors down.

"I don't understand, why are you hiding from them?" the officer asked.

"Long story and I really want to get out of here without them knowing where I am," Sarah told her.

When the coast was clear, they slipped out of the hotel and out to the parking lot. If fate would have it, of course, Mark was on a cigarette break. Sarah jumped behind her uncle.

"Seriously?" she questioned no one in particular. It took some maneuvering but the three of them managed to leave undetected and headed for Ashland Street to investigate where Clair Becker was last seen.

Sam and Sarah walked out in front, both holding flashlights.

The officer walked behind them, also using a flashlight. "So what exactly are we looking for?" she asked.

"I'll let you know when we find it," Sam responded, stopping to scan the room with the flashlight. Sarah did the same too. He noticed a flight of stairs and told Sarah to follow him, walking over to climb up them.

The officer stayed behind to continue searching the ground level. That is until the spirit appeared to her again and called out for Sam. Sam and Sarah both sped down the stairs as fast as they could.

"Hey. Hey," Sam told her. "I'm here. What is it?"

The officer looked terrified, backing away.

"What happened?" he asked, looking back behind him.

"Claire," she finally said.

Sarah spun around, shining her flashlight all over the place, "Where?"

"There," the officer continued to look ahead.

"Did she attack you?" asked Sam.

"No, no, she was just, like, reaching out for me," she explained. "She was over there by the window." The officer walked over to the far window where the spirit had appeared.

Sam and Sarah exchanged looks between them before following her. Sam helped her move a metal shelf and found the word, Ashland on the window, backwards. That's when Sarah had noticed the reflection of it on the wall from the setting sun, behind them and nudged Sam to show him. Sam took out the EMF reader and began scanning around the room.

It went off like crazy when Sam got near the wall and looked for a blunt object to break through it. Sarah found one too so she could help but her uncle was the one doing a lot more damage, she weakened it a little for her uncle though. Once Sam broke through, he looked inside with his flashlight and saw something.

As he used his left arm to continue busting the wall down, he questioned why Claire was leading them to her remains. It made Sarah question it as well. Once there was a big enough gap, the three of them pulled out Claire's corpse and set it on the ground. Sam then used a knife to cut the rope holding the cloth around it, together and pulled it back to reveal a dead, rotting corpse with blond hair. They also noticed her wrists were bruised like the officer's, as well as the same necklace that was supposed to be rare, made over on a street called Carson Street that her partner had given her.

Both Sam and Sarah finally figured it all out. Sam stood up, walking away. "Now it makes perfect sense," he said.

"I'm sorry?" the officer questioned him.

"Clair's not a vengeful spirit," Sarah explained. "She a death omen. She warns people who are about to die."

The officer stood up, staring between uncle and niece. "Excuse me?" she demanded.

"Claire's not killing anyone," Sam shook his head. When he saw the confused look still on her face, he explained, "See, sometimes spirits don't want vengeance, they want justice."

"Which is why Claire led us here," Sarah added. "To tell us who had killed her."

There was a short, awkward pause before Sam asked the officer, "Detective, how much do you know about your partner?"

The officer thought on it. "Oh my god," she realized.

Sarah asked, "What?"

She walked past Sam, staring at the floor. "About a year ago, some heroin went missing from lockup. Obviously it was a cop. We never found out who did it. But whoever did it would need someone to fence their product."

Sam shifted on his feet. "Someone like a heroin dealer," he said.

"Heroin, that's a bad drug, right?" Sarah made sure. She had seen movies that involved drugs in them, she just didn't know about it in detail.

"Yeah," Sam replied before turning back to the officer. "Somebody like Claire."

With that thought in mind, the three of them jumped into the officer's car and drove off. The officer called the station and learned her partner had left with Dean. Sarah snapped up when she heard her father had already been taken. Once they figured out where the officer's partner had taken Dean, they headed there, as fast as they could.

Sarah gripped the edge of the door, staring out the window. They had to get there on time, they just had to. She wasn't about to lose her father. In fact, her worry and fear for her father overcame what was left of the sting in her bottom. That was how much Dean meant to her.

Eventually, the three of them pulled up to where the officer's partner was holding Dean at gunpoint. Sarah was the first to jump out and dashed over to jump over her father as if to shield him since he was handcuffed and unarmed.

"Move it, kid," the partner ordered of her, still holding the gun out, towards them.

Sarah glared up at the man, "You want to kill my dad, you'll have to go through me first."

"Sarah, no. Get out of here," Dean ordered Sarah next.

She never took her eyes off the guy. "Punish me later, Dad. There's no way I'm leaving you to die. Not after the day I've had."

"Fine, kid," the partner told her. "Have it your way."

"Pete, put the gun down!" The officer pulled her gun out on her partner.

He looked over at her, "Diana?"

Dean looked over at her too.

"How'd you find me?"

"I know about Claire," she told him, her gun still out.

Her partner, Pete smirked at her, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I think you do," Sarah spoke up, still glaring at him. Her arms were held out, behind her towards her father as she sat in his lap. "You tried to use Claire and it backfired on you and you panicked. You would have lost your job, probably gone to jail when it got out so you killed her, then Tony and Karen Giles too."

Dean quickly shot a look over at Sam who nodded in return.

"Maybe I will kill you first, kid," he told her.

"Put the gun down," the officer, Diane repeated her order.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Pete told his partner.

"How many more people are gonna die over this, Pete?" she asked.

"There's a way out," he replied and looked down at Dean and Sarah. "This Dean kid is a frigging gift. We can pin the whole thing on him. Okay? No trial, nothing, just one more dead scumbag."

"Hey," Dean spoke up, annoyed.

Pete raised his gun at him again, making Dean raise his cuffed hands over his daughter's head to pull her closer to him to protect her. He looked back at his partner, "No one will question it. Diane, please…I still love you."

Diane hesitated but slowly lowered her gun. Sam quickly looked between them, unsure what to do.

"Thank you," Pete told her and nodded. "Thank you." He turned back to Dean and Sarah for the final time to shoot. He never got the chance. Diane shot at him, knocking him back on the gun.

Dean rolled out of the way, shielding Sarah as best he could as Diane walked slowly towards Pete. "Then why don't you buy me another necklace, you ass," she told Pete, angrily before he grabbed her around the legs and pulled her to the ground.

Sam tried to make a run towards his gun but Pete beat him to it, holding it out to him. Sam held his arms up, watching him. Pete pointed over at Dean who was trying to shield Sarah but she was trying to move over to shield him instead.

Pete faced his partner once more, walking towards her. That is, until Claire showed up, behind him. While his back was turned, Diane shot Pete in the back, killing him this time. Everyone was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Dean was released from his cuffs and was able to hug his daughter properly. Leaving the family alone, Diane went over to kneel beside her partner.

Sarah hugged her father around the legs until Dean lifted her up into his arms to hug her too. "They told me you were picked up by your grandparents," Dean said after a moment.

Sarah hesitated before she admitted, "I ran away. But I didn't have to go far, I ran, literally, into Uncle Sam out in the hallway of the hotel. I'm sorry, Dad."

Dean wasn't pleased to hear his daughter had run away from a motel room for the second time. "I told you never to run away, Sarah. I would have found a way to get you back," he scolded her, sternly.

Sarah was looking downward. "I said I was sorry." Tears were starting to form in her eyes. "I had figured out the _Dana Shulps_ thing, wanting to check it out, and I also did not want to be there any longer. It was horrible."

"Yeah, Dean," Sam spoke up for his niece and shook his head, "Don't punish her this time. I don't think her butt could take anymore."

"What?" Dean felt confused as he looked between his brother and daughter.

Sarah hugged her father's neck.

Sam had trouble swallowing. "Dean, they beat her butt until it was dark red, leaving a welt."

Dean's mouth hung open as his brother's words sunk in. There was a limit Dean had the first and only time he had put Sarah over his knee and it sounded like it was nowhere near what she had gotten earlier that day. Anger crossed over Dean and from the look in his eye, he wanted blood.

When Diane let the Winchesters escape, they headed to the impound lot and grabbed the Impala before Dean drove over to the hotel where the Holdens were still checked in, frantically looking for Sarah. Sam tried to talk him out of it, saying it wasn't worth the effort and once Sarah had figured out what her father was up, she tried too. Dean wouldn't have nothing of it, assuring them he wasn't going to hurt or kill them as much as he wanted to. Instead, he stormed up to their room, after getting the room number from Sarah. The two of them followed after him to make sure Dean kept his promise.

Dean pounded on the door, hard a couple times before Greg opened the door, who was surprised to see him.

"Dean, what are…" Greg noticed Sarah standing there, behind him. "Sarah Lynn, where have you been?" he demanded of his granddaughter.

Dean grabbed a hold of the front of the older man's collared shirt, pulling him closer to his face. "If I were you, I'd worry about yourself," and shoved Greg back inside the room, walking towards him.

Mark turned his wheelchair around to fully face them. "What is going on here?" he demanded.

Dean looked between the three of them. "Which one of you beat my little girl?" he demanded in a low, cold voice.

"If you mean, spanked, that was me," Greg admitted, boldly.

Dean took another step towards him. Greg tried to stand his ground.

"There's a difference in giving a spanking and beating a kid," Dean said, keeping his anger at a steady pace, or tried to for Sarah's sake.

Greg nodded once, "I agree."

He looked at him, strangely, "Do you?"

"Yes, yes I do."

"No you don't," Dean shook his head. "When I spanked Sarah, I didn't do it until it left welts or her ass, dark red. You, on the other hand, did. And if you ever lay a hand on her like that again, I might just come back and kill you."

"So you are a murderer," said Mark.

Dean smirked at him, "Don't worry, I won't actually kill him. I might hurt him just a bit but it won't be anything too serious to send him to the hospital."

Greg looked over at his granddaughter, "She knows the consequences of her actions. Did you tell your father, Sarah, why I did what I did?"

Sarah was about to answer until her father did for her. "She did, in fact. Sarah knows to be honest with me."

"Let's hear it then, Sarah."

"I gave the officer and you a hard time," she answered, truthfully.

"I was gonna punish her for running away from you when she knows not to leave a motel room without any of us but after what she got from you, she's punished enough," Dean told him, coldly again.

"What is that teaching her?" Beth asked from the other side of the farthest bed.

"She'll have another punishment," Dean assured her. "I already took her video game away for a week. Sarah just doesn't need another spanking."

Greg tried to head over to the nightstand and took out a Bible, quickly flipping through the pages until he found the verse he wanted and began reading aloud. Dean walked over and smashed his hand down, covering what he was reading.

"Don't sell me the Bible crap," Dean spat at him. "I don't believe in it."

The men stared at each other until Greg pulled the Bible away and placed it back in the drawer. "She's coming back with us," he finally stated.

"Why, so you can place her in a mental institution?"

"No, my nephew there is taking custody of Sarah," Greg explained, calmly.

Sam spoke up, this time, "In order for him to receive custody, Dean would have to surrender his rights as her father."

"Or," Greg looked over at him. "We go to court and gain custody that way. And trust me, Dean, you admitted before to having no permanent home. The odds are in our favor."

He just smirked, "Well, good luck finding us then." With that, Dean turned and stormed from the room. Sam followed but Sarah didn't move.

She stared at each of her grandparents and second cousin. "If you really did care about me, you would leave my dad alone. That's where I belong. Besides, you spent my entire life wanting rid of me anyway."

"That is not true, Sarah," Beth told her, shaking her head.

"Really?" she asked. "Sure does sound like it to me."

Sam returned, standing in the doorway, "Coming, Peanut?"

Sarah gave one last glare before turning around and leaving the room. Sam touched her head and walked with her when she went by, also stealing one last look at the Holdens.


	62. Chapter 61

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 61

The Impala was quiet at first as Dean drove to the closest gas station for gas and refreshments. Sam had stayed back at the motel they were staying in at the moment so it was just Dean and Sarah. Sarah stared out the window of the front window as Dean drove with one foot, the other propped up against his own door. His elbow was on the door while he drove with his right hand.

They had finished another hunt not that long ago in a town of people, whose ten years were up from a deal they had made with a crossroads demon, managing to save the last one. It wasn't an easy one either but when did the Winchesters ever had it easy? Particularly when Dean came face to face with the crossroads demon and she offered him a deal to save John but instantly chose his own kid instead, not wanting to leave her behind without him even if Sarah would be eighteen when the deal would be up.

Dean looked over at his daughter. "You okay, Baby Girl?" he asked.

Sarah nodded. "Just thinking about what happened a couple weeks ago," she admitted, staring out the window.

"You mean with your other family?"

She nodded again.

"Don't worry, they'll never find us. I'll make sure of that," he assured her.

Sarah was silent for a moment before she said as she turned her head to look at him, "What about the car crash and when the cops picked us up?"

"What about it?"

"Someone always calls Papa. That's how they find us each time, because for some reason he's the one to call in an emergency," she said.

Dean ran his left hand along his hair, looking ahead at the road. "I never thought of that," he finally replied. "I don't even know how to remove him either."

"Uncle Sam's pretty smart, do you think he would know?" Sarah shrugged.

"Maybe, or one of us could look it up." Dean reached over and turned the dial of the radio a tad bit when he noticed one of the songs he liked was playing. He tapped the steering wheel with his thumb as he sang along, softly to himself.

When the song was over, Sarah asked, "Wasn't that Grandpa's favorite song?"

"Sure was," he said.

The car was silent. Eventually, Dean pulled into a gas station parking lot and parked beside a gas pump, turning the car off before stepping out. Sarah followed him, getting out on his side and shut the car door for her father.

Standing at the gas pump, Dean made the selections he needed and unhooked the hose, taking it over to stick it in the gas tank in the back of the Impala and leaned back against the trunk as he slid his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. Sarah did the same on the other side of the hose.

After a minute of silence, Sarah looked up at her father. "I miss Grandpa, Dad," she told him. "Do you think if all of us had made it through, he would have stayed with us? Or would Grandpa have left again to go find the demon?"

Dean stared at the ground for a few seconds before looking over at his daughter and shrugged. "He did admit we were stronger as a family. Maybe he would have stayed with us." Deep down, he was hoping the direction of where the conversation was leading towards Sarah opening up to him about her hell visions. With Sarah though, he never could tell. Sometimes when he thought she was going to say one thing, Sarah would surprise him and say something completely different. This time, Sarah didn't say a word and soon, the gas was finished pumping. Dean took it out and returned it to the pump while Sarah closed the tank for him.

Sarah followed her father inside, hurrying to keep up beside him. Dean opened the door to the gas station and held it so Sarah could walk in first before following behind her. Dean grabbed a six-pack of beer and some beef jerky before finding Sarah by the soda.

"Dad, can I get that root beer?" she pointed up at the glass bottled root beer on the top shelf of the cooler.

"Are you sure that's root beer?" he asked her, opening the door to look for himself. He picked one up and read the words on the bottle. "I guess it is root beer."

"Yeah, and I can feel like you and Uncle Sam with your beer until I'm old enough to drink with you," she told him.

Dean grinned at her, "Oh really."

Sarah nodded.

He handed her the soda and walked over to the check-out counter, letting the cooler door close on its own. Sarah hurried over to grab a bag of hot Cheetos before running over there, too and set the soda and chips up on the counter so the clerk could ring everything up.

Everything seemed like it was going fine until the ride back to the motel room and another vision hit. The moment it started, Dean pulled off to the side of the road to tend to his daughter, this time holding her while the vision played through her mind. When it was over, Sarah stared up at her father in horror before backing away from him towards her door.

"What is it?" Dean asked, confused and anxious at the same time. "What did you see?"

"You…you're gonna…" she tried to get out but found it hard to process much less say it.

"I'm gonna what, Sarah?"

Sarah felt a tear fall as she stared at her father. "K-kill someone."

Dean stared back, "Kill someone? You mean a person?"

She nodded.

Dean turned back in his seat to face forward again. "I'm sure I have a good reason, Baby Girl. I wouldn't just waste someone."

Sarah nodded again and faced forward too. Of course, her father wouldn't kill an innocent person unless they were possessed. He was a good person and only killed when it was necessary.

Dean hurried back to the motel, knowing Sam probably had a vision as well. Once there, the two of them hurried inside and saw Sam sitting on the floor, panting like he just ran the Detroit marathon. Gathering up their stuff, the Winchesters hit the road for Rivergrove, Oregon.

In Rivergrove, the Winchesters talked to a guy Sam and Sarah recognized from their vision and learned where the guy that Dean would shoot lived, heading over to his house. Before they got back in the Impala, Sam noticed a carving on a wooden post, _Croatoan_ and got his brother and niece's attention.

Dean walked over to get a better look. "Croatoan?" he read.

"Yeah," Sam replied, looking back at him while pointing to the word. "Roanoke? Lost Colony? Ring a bell?"

Dean thought on it but nothing was coming to mind and Sarah hadn't made it that far into history yet.

"Dean, did you pay any attention in history class?" Sam asked of him.

"Yeah. The shot heard around the world, how bills become laws," he shrugged.

What her father was describing sounded very familiar to Sarah. "Dad, I don't think you're describing history class. That sounds like _Schoolhouse Rock_ my first grade teacher made us watch every Friday."

Sam rolled his eyes as Dean shrugged again, "Whatever."

"Roanoke was one of the first English colonies in America, late 1500s," Sam explained.

It started coming back to him, "Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I do remember that. The only thing they left behind was a single word carved in a tree." Dean looked back at Sam, "Croatoan."

"Yeah," he said. "And I mean, there were theories, Indian raid, disease. But nobody knows what really happened. They were all just gone. I mean, wiped out overnight."

"Uncle Sam, when are we gonna get to the good stuff in history class?" Sarah asked of her uncle with her hands on her sides. "I'm tired of learning about geography maps and I already can site all fifty states and their capitals."

"That's how fourth grade runs things, Peanut. You don't start learning actual history until a fifth grade level," he told her.

"Well, why can't you bump me up to fifth grade? The school did."

"Sarah, can we discuss this later?" Dean asked. "We're kind of in the middle of something, right now."

Sarah crossed her arms across her chest, "Fine," she agreed.

Dean turned back to Sam, "You don't think this is what's really going on here? I mean…"

Sam looked back at the word, "Whatever Sarah and I saw in our head, it sure wasn't good. But what do you think could do that?"

"Well, like I said," Dean shrugged, looking around him. "All your weirdo visions are always tied to the yellow-eyed demon somehow, so…"

"We should get help," Sam suggested, suddenly. "Bobby, Ellen, maybe…"

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Dean walked away, pulling out his phone. Sam and Sarah followed him as he looked into his phone. He stopped, turning halfway around. "I don't have a signal."

Sam pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at it. "I don't either," he said.

Dean looked around and noticed a payphone. He walked over and tried it, but the line was dead. "I'll tell you one thing, if I was gonna massacre a town, that'd be my first step."

Sarah asked, "Now what?"

"Guess we're on our own," he said.

At the guy's house, they knocked on the front door until a young boy looked to be still in high school answered.

"Hi," Dean greeted him, holding up a badge. "Looking for Duane Tanner. He lives here, right?"

The boy nodded, smiling, "He's my brother."

"Can we talk to him?" asked Dean.

"He's not here right now," he said.

"You know where he is?"

"Yeah. He went on a fishing trip up by Roslyn Lake."

"Your parents home?" Sam asked him.

"Yeah, they're inside," the boy nodded behind him.

A man called from inside the house, "Jake, who is it?" Soon, he joined the boy at the door.

"Hi," Dean greeted him. "U.S. marshals, sir. We're looking for your son Duane."

"Why?" he asked. "He's not in trouble, is he?"

"No, no. We just need to ask him a couple routine questions, that's all."

"When's he due back from his trip?" Sam asked the man.

The man breathed in, thinking, "I'm not sure."

"Well, maybe your wife knows."

The man looked back, over his left shoulder. "You know, I don't know. She's not here, right now."

"Well, your son said she was," said Dean.

The boy, Jake who had been staring at the ground, looked up at that point, "Did I?"

"She's getting groceries," the man smiled. "So when Duane gets back, there's a number where he can get a hold of you?"

"Oh no, we'll just check in with you later," Dean told them and turned around to head down the front steps. When the door was shut, he asked Sam and Sarah, "That was kind of creepy, right? Little to Stepford?"

Sam was looking ahead. "Big time," he said.

Dean hurried to the side of the house with Sam and Sarah following him, eventually crouching over. The men looked through one of the windows and saw the father and son gathered around what they figured to be the boy's mother. Sarah wasn't thrilled she couldn't see what was going on but could hear screams from inside and when Dean took out his gun and cocked it, she too pulled out her gun.

Dean kicked the side doors open and the three ran inside. Father and son looked up, surprised before Dean shot the father in the chest and Sarah immediately shot at the boy who tried to escape out the window, hitting him. The moment Sarah realized what she had done she lowered her gun, slowly as she stared at him, sliding down the far wall.

The next fifteen minutes was a blur as Sam and Dean loaded the family into the Impala and drove to the nearest doctor's office. Sarah sat close beside her father as the mother sat next to Sam. The father was stashed in the trunk while the boy lay in the back seat. Sarah hadn't said a word through the whole thing.

"What's wrong, Baby Girl?" Dean asked, grabbing her left knee, playfully.

"I killed…someone, Dad. I shot him and I killed him," she finally spoke.

Dean paid attention to the road but looked at his daughter out of the corner of his eye. "You did what you had to do, Sarah. You saved this woman's life and that's what matters."

Sarah looked up at her father. "The point is, though, Uncle Sam was right. Everyone is capable of murder and I murdered someone. I intentionally capped a bullet inside the kid. Because of me, he won't have a life."

Dean pulled up to the doctor's and parked beside the curb, nodding for Sam to take the mother inside before turning to his daughter, cupping his hand to the side of her head, "Listen to me, Baby Girl," he told her. "You did what you had to do. You're not some cold-blooded murderer. You're a hero. If that kid had gotten away, who knows how many others he may have killed next. You did good, I promise."

"Then why doesn't it feel like I did good?" she sniffed back some tears.

"'Cause you're looking at it in a negative way, I guess, or it's because it's your first time having to shoot a person. I don't know and I wish I could tell ya it's gets easy…"

Sarah looked away and felt her father kiss her head.

"Come on, let's get these two inside before people start asking questions."

She nodded and the two of them stepped out right as Sam returned to grab the boy while Dean grabbed the father from the trunk, carrying them inside while Sarah held each door open for them.

"Wait, you said Jake helped him?" the doctor asked the mother while the Winchesters stood back, listening. "Your son Jake?"

The mother nodded, looking at the floor. "They beat me." She looked at her. "Tied me up."

The nurse stood back, behind where the mother was sitting. "I don't believe it," she said.

The doctor held a hand out to her to be quiet, "Pam," and turned back to the mother. "Beverly, you have any idea why they would act this way? Any history of chemical dependency?"

"No, of course not," the mother shook her head and her voice cracked. "I don't know why. One minute, they were my husband and my son, and the next, they had the devil in them."

Sarah was squeezing her father's fingers in her left hand. Dean looked down at her as she stared over at the mother then looked up at Sam. "We need to talk," he told him and walked back out of the room. Sarah followed right behind him, and Sam followed shortly after.

"Those guys were whacked out of their gourds," Dean said as they walked into another room.

"What do you think?" Sam asked. "Multiple demons, mass possession?"

"If it is a possession, there could be more," he shrugged. "God knows, how many. It could be like a frigging Shriner convention."

"Wait, hold on," Sarah spoke up. "I never saw black eyes or black smoke. There was nothing that's shows that demons are involved. Also, our guns…" she paused to shallow a lump in her throat. "Our guns killed them. Demons can't be killed by guns unless it was the Colt."

"What do you think it is, Peanut?" asked Sam as he shrugged.

"I don't know but it's not a demon possession," she replied.

"Well, whatever," said Dean, walking back towards the first room they were in and stopped. "Something turned them into a monster."

At that point, the doctor walked in.

"How's the patient?" Sam asked.

"Terrible," she replied, irritable. "What the hell happened out there?"

Dean looked away, "We don't know."

"Yeah? Well, you just killed my next door neighbor and his son."

Sarah stared at the floor, feeling guilty all over again. She heard her father tell the doctor, "We didn't have a choice."

"Maybe so, but we need the county sheriff," the doctor nodded. "I need the coroner."

Sam spoke up, "Phones are down."

"I know, I tried. Tell me you have a police radio in the car."

"We do. But, it crapped out just like everything else," he explained.

The doctor let out a frustrated breath, "I don't understand what is happening."

"How far is it until the next town?" Dean asked.

"It's about forty miles down to Sidewinder," she replied.

"All right, I'm going down there and see if I can find some help," he told her. "My partners will stick around," Dean slapped Sam on the shoulder, "keep you guys safe."

The doctor watched him leave. "Safe from what?" she asked.

Dean looked back over his shoulder and stopped. "We'll get back to you on that," he answered before leaving.


	63. Chapter 62

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 62

Sam rubbed his left hand across his niece's upper back as she sat on the edge of one of the examining tables he was leaning against. She stared down at the hard, white floor as she thought about what she had done earlier. Sam was staring over at the father's lifeless body.

"Huh," the doctor said, getting their attention.

Sarah asked. "What?"

"Both their lymphocyte percentage is pretty high," she explained, looking through the microscope lenses. "His body was fighting off a viral infection."

"Really," said Sam. "What kind of virus?"

The doctor shook her head, "Can't say for sure."

"Do you think an infection could've made them act like that?"

"None that I've ever heard of," she said. "I mean, some can cause dementia, but not that kind of violence. Besides, I never heard of one that did this to the blood."

"Did what?" Sarah asked.

"There's this weird residue. If I didn't know better, I swear it was sulfur."

Sam and Sarah exchanged looks between them and looked over at the bodies.

"Can I talk to you, privately?" Sarah asked her uncle before jumping down, onto her feet and Sam followed her out of the room, into another.

"Who do you think you are, Peanut? Your dad?" Sam smiled down at her when he had shut the door behind him.

"Shut up," Sarah told her uncle. "So, I was wrong about demons being involved."

"Yeah, but I've never even heard of a demonic viral infection that turns people evil," he shrugged.

"Now that I think about it, I think there is something in that hunter's book of mine. Something about an infection that turned people into psycho killers."

Sam shifted on his feet, his hands in his jacket pockets. "What does it say?"

"If someone with the virus bleeds on you, meaning if your blood makes contact with theirs, then in three to four shorts hours you're infected too. It takes a while for it to take affect but when it does, look out," Sarah explained to him.

"So Mrs. Tanner in there is probably infected then," Sam said, looking back over his shoulder through the window on the door.

"If she was exposed than yes," she said.

Sam looked back at his niece. "Is there any cure at all?" he asked, hopeful, not wanting to have to waste Mrs. Tanner.

Sarah shook her head. "You have to wait until it moves on to the next town and usually by that time, everyone in the current town are dead by then." There was a silent pause before she spoke again. "Maybe keeping Mrs. Tanner locked somewhere will work but who knows how long before the virus moves on."

"You're right, but we gotta try," he sighed.

The two of them returned to the other room to speak with Mrs. Tanner, the boy's mother and explained about the virus to her. The doctor asked her if she had any direct contact with her husband or son's blood and requested if she could take a blood sample. At first, everything looked calm and thought Mrs. Tanner was agreeing to it until she freaked out.

When Sarah saw Mrs. Tanner go after Sam with one of the doctor's tools, she instantly reacted and pulled out her gun again, shooting Mrs. Tanner in the head. The second time did not feel better than the first.

"Oh sweet Jesus," Sarah said, staring down at the lifeless body. "Not again. Not again. Not again." She was now backing away.

Sam had reached back to grab a canister when his niece fired. "Peanut, if you had just waited I would have just knocked her out," he told her.

Sarah was starting to breathe, heavily. "I-I-I I panicked. She was going after you and…I want to go back to the salt-barreled shotguns. Dad shouldn't have trusted me yet with a real pistol." She stopped when she bumped into the bed she had been sitting on earlier.

"Dad?" They looked over at the doctor who had a confused look on her face. "I thought you three were marshals."

"Uh…" Sam tried to come up with an excuse to fix what his niece had said. "We are, you see…uh, her…"

The doctor had them caught by now. "Who are you really?" she asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

Defeated, he said, "I'm Sam and this is my niece, Sarah. My brother, Dean is the one out trying to find help. We're really here to help though, I promise. We wouldn't kill someone unless it was absolutely necessary." Sam then walked over and lifted his niece up and comforted her.

"I killed two people. Two people in one day. What is happening to me, Uncle Sammy?" she said from his right shoulder.

Sam set her gun down on the bed, beside him and rubbed her back. "I know, Peanut. I know," he said, quietly.

Soon, they heard the roar of the Impala pull up outside while Sam was talking to the nurse and Sarah ran out to meet her father, almost knocking him off the sidewalk when he stepped up, onto it.

"Woah, Sarah," he said in surprise. "What's going on?"

"I shot Mrs. Tanner, Dad. She attacked the doctor and Uncle Sam, and I shot her in the head." Sarah was shaking from head to foot as she held onto her father's legs and Dean could feel it.

He pulled her arms away and kneeled to her level. "Hey, remember what I said earlier, Sarah. You had no other choice, you had to. It's not like you're going out and randomly killing people, right?" Dean reminded her.

Sarah nodded at him.

"Don't worry, kid," the man from earlier that had told them where Duane lived assured her. "I had to shoot my neighbor, Mr. Rodgers."

She looked over at him, wiping her left eye, "You have a neighbor named Mr. Rodgers?"

The man looked at Dean, "I'm guessing that's your kid."

"Yeah," Dean told him, above a whisper as he smiled. He turned back to his daughter, "I know it's a lot for you, Baby Girl but it'll be okay, promise. You're a good kid, okay?"

Sarah nodded at him again before they headed back inside where they met up with Sam.

"Did you guys, uh, get to a phone?" he asked them.

Dean replied, "Roadblock," and told the guy with him he was going to talk with his brother and daughter alone. The guy headed inside the room where the doctor was.

"What's going on out there, Dean?" asked Sam.

"Man, I don't know," he shrugged, walking towards him. "I feel like Chuck Heston in _The Omega Man_. The sarge is the only sane person I could find. What are we dealing with? You know?"

Yeah, doc says it's a virus and Sarah told me about a demonic infection that travels through people's blood when they come into direct contact with another infected person," Sam then went on to explain everything Sarah had said and about the traces of sulfur in the blood. "At least that explains why Sarah and I have been having visions."

"Geez, it's like a Biblical plague," Dean said, walking away.

"Yeah, you don't know how right you are, Dean," Sam said, looking inside a window on the door he was standing in front of, making Dean look back. "I've been poring through Dad's journal. Found something about the Roanoke colony."

"And?" he asked.

"Dad always had a theory about Croatoan. He thought it was a demon's name, sometimes known as Dever or sometimes Reshef. A demon of plague and pestilence."

Dean looked down at the floor for a moment before looking back up at his brother. "Well, that's terrific. Why here? Why now?"

Sam shook his head, "I have no idea." He paused for a second. "But, Dean, I mean, who knows how far this thing can spread. We gotta get out of here. We gotta warn people."

"You heard Dad, there's a roadblock. That means no one can get out. Dad, can I go out and get my book from the trunk? Maybe there's more in there, I'm not thinking of."

"Yeah, come on." Dean took his daughter outside to the Impala again and opened the trunk for her. Sarah reached in and pulled her duffel bag closer to her and quickly unzipped it. Rummaging around, she found the book she was searching for and took it out, backing up so Dean could shut the trunk after he grabbed one of his own duffel bags.

Inside, Sarah quickly scanned through the hunter's book until she came to the section on the Croatoan virus and read up on it, sitting back in a corner. That was how she usually read something, curled up in a corner, highly involved into whatever it was she was reading as she wore her headphones over her ears, listening to her music to keep out the outside world so Sarah could concentrate better. Not that, she couldn't without it. It was mostly to warn others not to disturb her unless absolutely necessary.

Sarah sat in another room with the door shut, not even noticing anything as she read through it, frontward and back. Sometime later Sam and Dean had entered the room, talking about Duane who had showed up from his fishing trip, a cut on his leg. When Sarah finally closed her book and turned off her PSP, Sam was yelling through the door.

"What's going on?" she asked him.

"It's our vision, Peanut. Duane's here and your dad wants to kill him before we can know for sure he's got the virus," he told her.

"Was he bleeding at all?"

"Yeah, but Duane said he had tripped."

"Where was he bleeding?" she continued to ask.

"His leg, under his knee." They waited to see if they heard a gunshot but it never came and soon, Dean returned, unlocking the door. "Dean? You didn't…"

"Shut up," he told his brother and looked at Sarah. "Anything?"

"Nothing," Sarah replied as she shrugged. "I mentioned everything to Uncle Sam that's in here, already. No hunter has ever found a cure to it. Best bet is to put the person out of their misery before they infect someone else."

"No cure at all?" Sam wanted to make sure. "Are you sure you didn't miss anything?"

Sarah held the book up in her right arm, "The chapter is only two pages long and I've been reading it for what, three hours. Trust me. I think I'd know if I missed something before."

Soon, the Winchesters started working on bombs they could use against the infected that were outside, surrounding the clinic. Dean was explaining to Sarah what to do as they mixed the chemicals together.

The doctor walked in, her hands in her coat pockets. "It's been over four hours," she told them. "Duane's blood is still clean. I don't think he's infected. I'd like to untie him, if that's all right."

Dean looked at Sam then looked down at what he was doing, not saying a word.

"Yeah, sure," Sam told her.

The doctor walked away.

"You know I'm gonna ask you why," Sam told him when she was gone.

Dean examined the bottle he was filling, making sure it was the right amount, "Yeah, I know."

"So why?" he asked. "Why didn't you do it?"

Sarah looked between her father and uncle, listening before stopping at Dean to wait for an answer. All Dean said was, "We need more alcohol."

"I'll get it," Sarah volunteered and jumped off the stool she was sitting on.

Sam asked, "You sure?"

"Yeah," she said and headed into the storage room. When she noticed the bottles on a high shelf, she pulled another stool up to it and climbed on top of it to stand on and reached up to grab a bottle, putting each one down on the table underneath before climbing back down. When Sarah was on solid ground, she grabbed the two bottles and turned around to see the nurse standing there. She had not noticed the nurse had shut and locked the door.

"I've been wanting to get you alone," the nurse told her.

Sarah asked, confused, "Why?"

Her question was answered when the nurse shoved her back, alerting Sam, Dean, and the sarge. The nurse sat on top of Sarah yanking her shirt up to slice across her stomach, making it bleed and did the same on her palm, touching it to Sarah's cut.

Dean burst through the door and shot at the nurse a couple times in the back until she fell over. Sarah sat up, slowly, and looked at her stomach where it was bleeding. Dean stared in horror and the thought that his little girl was now possibly infected crossed his mind. He took a step towards her until the sarge stopped him.

"She bled on her," he confirmed, nodding down at Sarah. "She's got the virus."

Both Dean and Sarah stared at him before sharing a look between each other. Dean shoved his arm away from him and went over to lift Sarah up to her feet again, leading her out of the room, nodding for the doctor to follow. There was no way his daughter could have this virus. If she was immune to a skinwalker's bite, Sarah had to be immune to this.

Dean lifted Sarah up, onto the examining table and let the doctor take a sample of her blood before bandaging it up and gave her an ice pack to hold on it. They waited while the doctor checked it but it was too soon to know.

Dean paced back and forth, rubbing his hand down his mouth and along his hair. Finally, he said, "Doc, check her wound again, would you?" No one said anything. Dean stopped in front of his daughter and looked over at the doctor, "doctor."

The doctor jumped at his voice.

The sarge spoke up, "What'd she need to examine it for? You saw what happened."

Dean glared at him.

The doctor stepped closer to Sarah. "Did her blood actually enter your wound?" she asked the little girl.

"Come on, of course it did," the sarge exclaimed.

"We don't know that for sure," Dean told him, angrily.

"Dad, I'm scared," Sarah admitted. "I did feel her hand on my stomach, I felt her blood." There were tears starting to fill her eyes.

Dean stepped forward and pulled her against his chest.

"We can't take a chance," said Duane.

"No one's shooting my little girl," Dean warned them.

"She's not gonna be your daughter much longer. You said it yourself."

"Nobody's shooting anyone," Dean exclaimed.

Duane stepped forward, "You were gonna shoot me!"

"You don't shut your pie hole, I still might," he pointed at him.

Sarah pushed away from her father and looked up at him, "Dad, they're right."

Dean looked down at her.

"I am infected. It's just like that book I read once from Gram's collection. I want you to do it, Dad like George had to kill Lenny. Do it before I kill somebody else, please." Sarah sniffed in, hard as tears were now running down both sides of her cheeks. "Please, Dad."

Dean looked at her, "Forget it, Baby Girl. We still got time…"

"Time for what?" asked the sarge.

Dean gave him a death glare.

"Look, I understand she's your daughter and that she's just a kid, I'm sorry. But if you won't do it, I will." The sarge whipped out a pistol, facing Sarah.

"I'm going to say this once," Dean warned him, "You make a move on her, you'll be dead before you hit the ground. You understand me?" He raised his voice, "Do I make myself clear?"

Sam, who had kept quiet, trying to hold his emotions down at the thought of his only niece having the virus, tried to calm his brother down, "Dean!"

"Then what are we supposed to do?" the sarge demanded of Dean.

Dean looked down at his daughter, who was starting to hiccup from the amount of crying she was doing and took out his keys, tossing them to Sam. "Get the hell out of here, that's what," he told all of them, including Sam. "Go with Sam. You got the explosives. There's an arsenal in there. You two go with them. You got enough firepower to handle anything now."

The sarge asked, "What about you?"

Dean didn't respond.

"Dean, no. No," Sam told him. "I'm not leaving you two behind."

"Go, Sam. Go to the Roadhouse or meet up with Bobby. I'm staying with my little girl until the very end."

Sarah shook her head, "Dad, no. Go with them. Finish what you started, it's what Grandpa wanted, right?"

Dean looked at her again, "I'm not leaving you behind, Sarah. Not after everything we'd been through."

"Dad, I already killed two people today. I don't want to kill you too. I still have my gun, suicide may be a sin like murder is, but I'll do it anyway to save others. Please, just go."

The sarge and Duane turned and left the room. The doctor followed after them while Sam just stood there.

"Go, Sam," Dean told his brother.

"Dean, I can't leave you." Sam was close to tears by now too.

"You have to, Sam. There's no choice. Go now."

Sam's chest was moving in and out, quickly. Finally, he walked over to his niece and squeezed her close to him before moving on to his brother then exited the room. When he turned back to steal one last, final glance, Dean, shut and locked the door and stared at his brother. He hated having to leave his brother out in the world alone but he had to be a good father and take care of his little girl.

Dean turned and walked away from the door. "Wish we had a deck of cards or a foosball table," he smiled, trying to lighten the moment. He noticed Sarah had pulled out her gun from behind her and walked over to grab it out of her hand. "You're not doing it yourself, Sarah Lynn."

"Then you do it, Dad," she told him.

Dean shook his head, "Not until you're plunging towards me at the very last minute."

"Dad, please. Just do it now and go with Uncle Sam. Go kick that demon's ass for Grandma and Grandpa, and me. You won't ever have to worry about me. You can focus more on hunts and stuff without having to make sure I'm safe. Remember when you were gonna die? You told us to go on without you."

"And did you?" he said, reminding her.

"No," she admitted, realizing that was a bad example.

Dean walked over and sat down on a small filing cabinet, removing his own gun from behind him. "Truth is, Baby Girl, I'm tired."

"Of what? Hunting?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "This life." Dean was staring at the floor with just his eyes, sadly. "This weight on my shoulders. Man, I'm tired of it."

"I don't get it. After you kill me, you're quitting?"

Dean didn't answer. He didn't have the heart to tell her his plan. Sarah had become the majority of his world. Yes, he still had Sam to watch out for but what good would he be, thinking about his little girl all the time, being gone. Life wouldn't be the same. There would be no point. It was a difficult decision, a very difficult decision, but he had to choose his daughter. He just had to. If he could only save one person, it would be Sarah.

"I know Grandpa's gone but Uncle Sam will still be around. You'll have him," Sarah told her father.

"It's not about your grandfather," he said. "I mean, part of it, sure…"

"Then what, Dad?" she asked.

Dean didn't respond. Unknown to any of them, Sam had returned and was listening outside the room. He waited to see if Dean would answer before he stepped in front of the door and knocked. Dean stood up to unlock it.

"You have to see this," Sam told him.

Dean looked back at Sarah who jumped off the table. The three of them hurried outside to see the town completely deserted. All they could hear were crickets chirping.

"It's like a ghost town out here," Sarah stated as she looked around. "Everyone's gone."

"They all just vanished," the doctor added.

Dean looked over and saw the word, _Croatoan _written on another wooden post.

Inside, the doctor rechecked Sarah's blood. "Well, it's been five hours," she said, looking through the microscope lenses, "and your blood's still clean. I don't understand it but I think you dodged a bullet."

Sarah stared at the doctor, surprised. "It didn't affect me at all?"

She shook her head.

Sarah looked up at her father who was standing on her other side. First skinwalkers, now this? It didn't make any sense.

"When you compare it with the Tanners' samples…" The doctor looked over at another microscope and paused in mid-sentence. "What the hell?"

"What?" Sam asked who was also there.

She looked back at them, "Their blood. There's no trace of the virus. No sulfur, nothing"

Sarah looked over, between her father and uncle. That wasn't what she read in her book. Not everyone was dead yet. How was this possible? Everyone was at a loss for words.

When it was light out, everyone but the doctor packed up to leave. The sarge and Duane packed up the sarge's truck and headed south. The Winchesters headed off in the other direction.

Dean looked up at his daughter through the rear-view mirror as if he was trying to figure her out. "I swear I am gonna lose sleep over this."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked beside him.

"Why here? Why now? Where the hell did everyone go? It's not like they just frigging melted."

"Why was Sarah immune?" he added.

"Yeah, that too," Dean agreed. "It's the skinwalker job all over again."

"You think I could've been immune to the virus as well? I mean, we share everything else."

"Not everything," Sarah spoke up from the back seat. "Remember, we may share the visions of what's to come, there's still other things I have that you don't, Uncle Sam."

"I just want to know why Sarah's so damn important to this demon," said Dean.

Sam and Sarah only shrugged.

"I don't care how warm that beer is now, I need a drink," Dean barely muttered and drove until he found a place they could pull over and rest.

Sarah sat up on the top post of the wooden fence while Dean popped the lid off her root beer, handling it to her before opening his beer, passing the bottle opener to Sam so he could open his own.

The small family stayed for a long time, sipping their drinks as they took in the sights around them. Dean leaned on the fence between where Sam and Sarah sat, "Feel like one of us now, Sarah?"

Sarah took a long drink on her root beer. "Oh yeah," she smiled making Dean smile in return. He wasn't sure why Sarah was immune but was glad he didn't have to kill her this time either.

Sam was still thinking about the night before of what he heard. "So…last night. I heard the two of you talking. You want to tell me the hell you were talking about, Dean?"

Dean looked over at his brother, "What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" Sam repeated, smiling. "I mean, you said you were tired of the job. And that it wasn't just because of Dad."

"Forget it," he told him, staring out at the lake.

Sam shook his head, "No, I can't. No way."

"Look, man, I thought Sarah and I were gonna die. You can't hold that over me."

"How were you gonna die, Dad?" Sarah asked, confused again. "You said you would kill me when I start lunging at you."

"Never mind, Sarah. It's nothing for you to worry about."

It crossed her mind, his plan. "You were gonna kill yourself after you killed me, weren't you?"

"I couldn't live with you dead, Sarah," he told her. "No way."

Sarah couldn't respond so she looked away.

"Dean, just talk," Sam told his brother.

"And what if I don't?" he asked.

"Then I guess I'll just have to keep asking until you do."

Dean half smiled at his brother then looked back at the lake. He turned around to face the other way. "I don't know, man. I just think we ought to…go to the Grand Canyon." He smiled over at Sam again, bigger this time."

Sam raised an eye brow, smiling too, "What?"

"Yeah, you know…" Dean shook his head at the ground. "All this driving back and forth across country. You know, I've never been to the Grand Canyon."

"You're not missing much," Sarah told her father and took another drink of her root beer. "Went when I was five, did not impress me, whatsoever. Just a big hole in the ground that goes on for miles."

"Or I could take you fishing, Sarah. You and me. We can push Sam off the dock," Dean had to grin at that. Or we can find some amusement park and ride the roller coaster until we hurl," he nudged her with his elbow.

"You're not making any sense," said Sam, watching him.

Dean shrugged, looking over at him, "I just think we should take a break from all this. Spend some time giving Sarah some more childhood memories like we did for her birthday. Why do we gotta get stuck with all the responsibly? Why can't we live life a little bit?"

"I understand wanting to make memories for Sarah but why are you saying all this?"

Dean stared at the ground for a moment before he stood up and walked towards the Impala, taking a drink of his beer. Sam stood up while Sarah jumped off the fence and both of them followed.

"No, no, no, Dean," said Sam, "you're my brother, all right?"

Dean turned back around.

"So whatever weight you're carrying, let me help a little bit."

Dean looked away for a moment, forcing a smile. "I can't. I promised."

"Promised who?" Sarah asked.

"Your grandfather, just like you did."

"And Sarah finally told us, Dean. To help us and herself." Sam looked back at his niece, "You feel better about it now, right?"

Sarah shook her head at him, "Not in the slightest. I promised him I wouldn't and I did it anyway."

Not getting any help from his niece, he turned back to his brother. "What is it, Dean?"

"Right before Dad died…he told me something. He told me something about you and Sarah."

Sam didn't respond right away. "What?" he finally asked.

Sarah started to get intrigued as well but understood if her father didn't want to break his own promise that was just fine by her.

"Dean, what did he tell you?"

Dean licked his licks, looking away at the ground. After a few minutes, he looked over at Sarah. "Sarah, go wait for us in the car and do not eavesdrop. Listen to your music or something."

"I don't get to hear but Uncle Sam does?" she questioned her father, looking between them.

"Don't argue with me, Sarah Lynn. Just go," he told her.

Reluctantly, she started walking over to the Impala and got inside, turning on her PSP to play one of her games, using her headphones. All she could hear in her ears were guns blasting zombies away.

Dean waited until he knew for sure Sarah couldn't hear before he began. "Dad said that he… He wanted me to watch out for you…take care of you."

"He told you that a million times," Sam said, shaking his head.

"This time was different." He looked down at the ground again. "He said that I had to…save you, you and Sarah." Dean looked up at him.

"Save us from what?" Sam asked.

Dean shook his head, "He just said I had to save you. That nothing else mattered. And if I couldn't, I'd…" He had to stop, mid-sentence.

"You'd what, Dean?"

A huge lump appeared his throat as tears filled his eyes. "I…I'd have to kill you."

Sam jerked his head back once he heard his own father's request.

Dean painfully continued, "He said I might have to kill you both, Sammy." His voice was cracking at the thought of having to kill both his brother and daughter.

"Kill us?" he questioned, almost outraged. Sam tried to find the right words to say to his brother. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know," Dean shook his head at the ground.

"I mean, he must've had some reason of saying it, right? Did he know the demon's plan for us? Are we supposed to go dark side or something?" Sam asked, holding his arms out to the side. "What else did he say, Dean?"

"Nothing, I swear," he shook his head at Sam, this time.

"How could you not of told me this?"

"Because it was Dad and he begged me not to, just like he probably begged Sarah," Dean told him.

"Who cares," Sam bellowed at him. "Take some responsibility for yourself, Dean. In fact, Sarah has a right to know about this too. You had no right to keep this from us."

"You think I wanted this?" Dean asked. "Huh? I wish to God he'd never opened his mouth. That I wouldn't have to walk around with this screaming in my head all day."

Sam just turned and walked away, his back to his brother.

Dean faced the lake again and looked over at Sam's back. "Do not say a word of this to Sarah. You cannot tell her any of this. I don't care how high her IQ is, she's still just a kid and I don't want her to know any of this."

Sam looked back. "We have to figure out what all this means, Dean. How are we gonna do that with Sarah right there, with us? You won't send her to Bobby's and you heard her, she won't go until this demon is dead."

"I say we just lay low, at least for a while," he replied. "Be safer. Then that way I can make sure…"

Sam just smiled, "What?" he asked, sarcastically. That either of us don't turn evil? That we don't turn into some kind of killer?"

Dean raised his eye brows, "I never said that."

"You know, you're not careful, you will have to waste me, one day, Dean."

"I never said that!"

Sarah had heard that over her game, making her look out the back window.

"Damn it, Sam. This whole thing is spinning out of control, all right? Sarah's immune to skinwalkers and some weirdo demon virus…"

Sam turned around to face the lake, this time which Dean continued. Sarah tried to focus on her video game but she couldn't help push one side of her headphones away from her ear and listen in on the brothers' conversation.

"…And I don't know what the hell to do anymore. You're pissed at me and I get it. That's fine. I deserve it."

Sam glared over at his brother.

"But we lay low until we figure out our next move, okay?"

"Forget it," Sam told him, coldly and looked back at the lake.

Dean stepped closer to his younger brother, "Sam please, man," and hit him in the arm to look at him. "Hey, please. Just give me some time. Just give me some time to think, okay? I'm begging you. Please, man, please. If not for me then do it for Sarah. Okay?"

Sam tried to look everywhere but Dean until he decided to head back to the Impala, leaving his brother there, alone. Sarah heard footsteps coming and acted like she was scratching an itch, pushing the headphone back over her ear.


	64. Chapter 63

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 63

Dean paced back and forth in the motel room, his phone to his ear. "Come on, Sam," he said. "Answer your phone." Once the ringing went to voicemail, Dean hung up and called Ellen. "You sure you didn't hear anything last night, Baby Girl?" he asked when he stopped pacing, and faced her.

Sarah was sitting on one of the beds, watching TV. "No, I was asleep the entire night. You know me, I sleep like a rock."

It rang twice before Ellen picked up. "Harvelle's," she said.

"Hey Ellen, it's Dean. You heard from Sam lately?" Dean asked her.

"No I haven't, sweetie," Ellen replied. "What's going on?"

"Sam took off last night and I can't get a hold of him. Look, if you see or hear from him, can you call me?"

"I sure can," she said. "How's Sarah doing?"

"Hanging in there," he shrugged. "At least I have one that's not a runner." Dean remembered what he and Sarah had talked about the other night, and walked over to sit on the other bed, facing the one Sarah was sitting on. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know how to remove a person from a kid's emergency contact would you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Sarah's pain-in-the-ass grandfather is still on her emergency contact from when she lived with her other family and every time we have a run-in with a hospital or the police we have them to deal with." Dean then went on to explain what had happened a couple weeks ago in Baltimore.

Ellen was surprised. "No. Seriously?"

"Yup, and now they want Sarah back for some reason," he said.

"But Sarah said they went through a lot of trouble tracking you down in the first place. Why would they want her back now? Do they know you're hunters?" she asked.

"I don't think so but after seeing her eye, hearing about the car crash, and what happened in Baltimore, I think they're just looking out for the kid's safety."

"Well, getting them removed, you have to go through Sarah's records. Do you have any of that?"

"What? You mean like her birth certificate?" Dean asked. "I've never laid eyes on any of that stuff."

"I'm sure Ash could get you that stuff. I'll ask him and when you find Sam, come on over here and we'll see about getting these imbeciles off our Sarah's case." Ellen smiled at the phone.

Dean couldn't help but smile too. "Thanks, Ellen."

"Don't mention it, Dean." The two of them hung up.

Dean ran his hands along his hair, his elbows on his knees. He looked over, curious when he kept hearing children screaming on the TV. "What are you watching?" he questioned his daughter.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "This girl from, I'm guessing England or something, is trying to help this mom and dad get control of their children. I mean, look at this. This five-year-old is talking back to his mom like he's the adult. My mom never would have allowed that from me."

He continued to watch until it got on his nerves. "Turn this crap, Sarah. Isn't there cartoons on or something?" Dean could not stand out-of-control kids, which was why he didn't much care for them before Sarah came along. He stood up and headed over to the bathroom.

Sarah flipped through the channels to find something else to watch. The whole day, Dean spent trying to reach Sam but to no avail and checked in with the Roadhouse every few hours. Finally, Dean packed up and just started driving.

"Dad, do you think Uncle Sam left because of Grandpa's secret you told him?" Sarah asked, beside him.

Dean focused on the road. "Yeah, probably," he said.

"How come I can't know the secret? I won't run away. I promise," she told him.

"I know you won't, Baby Girl. I just don't want you to know."

She asked, "Why not? I told you mine."

Dean's phone rang from his pocket. "This is different," and reached into his pocket to pull it out and answered it. "Hello?"

"It's Ellen," Ellen answered.

"Hey, have you heard from Sam?" Dean asked.

"I have," she replied. "But he made me promise not to tell you where he is."

"Come on, Ellen. Please," he begged her. "Something bad could be going on here and I swore I'd look after that kid."

"Now Dean, they say you can't protect your loved ones forever."

Dean didn't respond.

"Well, I say screw that. What else is family for? He's in Lafayette, Indiana."

Dean thanked her and hung up.

"Did Miss Ellen find Uncle Sam?" Sarah asked, hopeful.

"Yup," was all Dean said.

It was a long drive to Lafayette, Indiana. Dean pulled up to a motel and parked. He looked over at a window to one of the rooms and smiled, "Thank God you're okay."

Sarah was sitting up onto her left foot to see for herself. "You know, for someone who's a nonbeliever, you sure do mention His name a lot," she pointed out to her father.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Shut up," he teased her. When Sam had moved away from the window to reveal a girl with him, Dean smirked. "Oh, you're better than okay. Sam, you sly dog."

"Uncle Sam's got himself a girlfriend now? That's what he's been doing?" Sarah questioned. "I mean, we've been worried sick about him the past week and all this time, Uncle Sam's just been with a girl?" There was a short pause. "I'm gonna kill him."

Dean looked at his daughter but the sound of glass shattering diverted his attention back to Sam's motel room. Sarah happened to catch someone up on a roof, next door with a rifle.

"Dad, up there!" she pointed at the man.

Dean looked for himself and quickly opened his door. "Stay here." He jumped out of the car and hurried up to the roof. Sarah watched, hoping and praying her father would get there in time. Sure enough, Dean reached the roof and kicked the guy. She couldn't tell if the guy was familiar to them or not but they must have known Sam, or the girl possibly.

When she saw the guy stand up, Sarah could have sworn it was Gordon Walker, the vampire hunter they left tied up. Quickly, she bolted from the car, grabbing the keys Dean had left in the ignition and ran over to her uncle's motel room and started pounding on the door.

"Uncle Sam, it's me, Sarah!" she called through the door when there was no response.

Soon, Sam thrust open the door, surprised to see his niece standing there. "Peanut? What are you doing here?" he asked. "Where's your dad?"

"He went up to stop the guy that was shooting at you and hasn't come down since," Sarah explained as she pointed up at the roof.

Sam and the girl with him looked up where the kid was pointing and saw no one there. Sam hurried up there to check things out. By the time the three of them got there, Dean and the mysterious guy was gone.

"Wait," the girl said. "I don't understand. Shouldn't we be talking to the cops?"

"As if," Sarah replied, following behind her. "They wouldn't do anything."

Sam kneeled down where he found a bullet shell. "These are .223 calibers," he said. "Subsonic rounds."

Sarah took it, examining it for herself. "He must have put a suppressor on the rifle then," she added.

The girl had bent over to get a closer look too, and stood up, shrugging at them, "Dude, who are you people?"

Both Sam and Sarah looked at the girl. "Uh, we watch a lot of action movies," Sarah lied, sort of. She has gotten into them, recently.

Back down in the parking lot, Sam and Sarah tried to figure out what was going on.

"You or your dad never noticed anyone tailing you guys, Peanut?" Sam was asking his niece.

Sarah shook her head, "No, not at all. We just got into town half an hour ago."

"How'd find me anyway?"

"Dad talked to Miss Ellen. She called and told us where you were which by the way you had us worried sick. Do you have any idea how much sleep we lost over this? You are in so much trouble, Uncle Sam…do not know your middle name." Sarah had her arms tightly folded, glaring up at him.

Sam had to laugh, looking away from his niece. "Oh am I," he said.

"Oh, you bet. You think this is funny, Uncle Sammy boy? Just wait 'til we get Dad back. Me and him will come up with a good punishment for you."

"Strict niece you have there, Sam," the girl nudged him. "Hate to be in your shoes, right now."

Sarah turned on her. "And who are you? You better be treating my uncle right."

"Okay, Peanut," Sam finally told her. "That's enough. This is Ava. She has visions like we do. Ava, this is Sarah," he introduced the two of them.

Sarah looked up at her uncle when he said Ava has visions too and looked over at her. "You're one of us? So did one of your relatives die in a fire too?" she asked.

"Uh, no," Ava replied and looked over at Sam.

"Long story," was all he said. "Ava, maybe you should go home."

"What about you?" she asked.

"Sarah and I are gonna go look for my brother." About that time, Sam's cell phone rang. He fished it out of his jeans pocket to answer it. "Hello?"

It was Dean. "Sam?"

"Dean?"

"Yeah, it's me. Sarah with you?"

Sam looked down at his niece. "She's right here, safe and sound."

"Sam, we've been looking for you," Dean told him. "Lafayette's a real funkytown, isn't it?" He paused for a few seconds before he added, "You ditched us, Sammy."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Sarah already said I was in trouble," he quickly smiled down at Sarah again. "Where are you?"

"I'm at 5637 Monroe Street," Dean told his brother. "Why don't you come meet me here?"

"Yeah, sure," Sam agreed and hung up. Something was wrong and he knew it. In a secret way, Dean had told Sam that he was in trouble with a gun pointed at him. Sam quickly jotted down the address.

"Is Dad okay?" Sarah asked, anxiously.

"Your dad's in trouble, he said the code word," he told her.

Ava questioned, "Code word?"

"Yeah, funkytown." Sam looked at her who then gave a strange look. "He thought of it."

Sarah looked up at Ava. "I know, I thought it needed a better code word too but my dad insisted."

Once Sam persuaded Ava to go on home to her fiancé, he and Sarah headed straight to rescue Dean who was a little tied up at the moment. He was tied to a chair inside a rundown, old house in the middle of nowhere. Gordon was over, going through his duffel bag of weapons.

"Gordy," said Dean. "I know we're not exactly your favorite people. But don't you think this is a little extreme?"

Gordon was examining a couple grenades in each hand. "What, you think this is revenge?"

He shrugged, "Well, we did leave you tied up for three days." Dean laughed to himself. "Which was awesome. Sorry, I shouldn't laugh."

"Yeah," said Gordon, looking forward while his back was to Dean. "I was defiantly planning on whupping your ass for that."

Dean nodded, "Mm-hm."

"That's not what this is. This isn't personal. I'm not a killer, Dean. I'm a hunter. And your family is fair game." Gordon snapped a gun cartage into a gun as Dean stared at him. Soon, Gordon picked up a rifle and went over to sit across from him. "See, I was doing an exorcism down in Louisiana," he explained. "Teenaged girl. Seemed routine, some low-level demon. But between all the jabbing and the head-spinning damn thing muttered something. About a coming war. I don't think it meant to. It just kind of slipped out, but it was too late. Piqued my interest. And you can really make a demon talk, if you got the right tools."

"And what happened to the girl it was possessing?" asked Dean.

"She didn't make it," he replied, not looking at him.

Dean shook his head, looking away himself, "Well, you're a son of a bitch."

Gordon finally stared at him and stood up to walk over. He slugged him in the face, making Dean grunt. "That's my mama you're talking about." He held up one finger, "Anyway…This demon tells me they have soldiers to fight in this coming war. Humans, fighting on hell's side," Gordon nodded at Dean, "Do you believe that? I mean, they're psychics, so they're not exactly pure human but still… What kind of worthless scumbag you gotta be to turn against your own race? But you know the biggest kick in the ass? "

Gordon stepped closer to Dean. "This demon said I knew two of them. Our very own Sarah and Sammy Winchester," he smirked, chuckling.

Dean smiled at his lap, "Oh, this is…This is a whole new level of moronic, even for you."

"Yeah," Gordon smiled down at the floor before looking back up. "Come on, Dean. I know…about their visions. Sarah's mind thing. I know everything."

"Really?" he smirked in return. "Because a demon told you," Dean laughed. "Yeah, and it wasn't lying."

Gordon was just standing there, stiff. "Hey Dean," he shook his head, "I'm not some reckless yahoo, okay? I did my homework. Made damn sure it was true. Look, you got your Roadhouse connections…I got mine. That's how I found Sammy in the first place and I knew Sarah wouldn't be too far away."

Gordon walked over to another chair and sat in it, facing the front door. "About a month ago, I found another one of these freaks, here in town. He could deep fry a person just by touching them."

Dean looked down at his arms, "Yeah, did he kill anyone?"

"Oh, besides Mr. Tinkles the cat? No." He glanced over at Dean, "But he was working up to it."

Dean glared over at him.

"They're all gonna be killers, Dean. We gotta take them all out. And that means Sarah and Sammy too."

"You lay one finger on Sarah, I'll kill you myself," Dean threatened the vicious hunter. "Besides, do you think any one of them are stupid enough to go through that door?"

"No, I don't," Gordon shook his head, ignoring the threat. "Especially since you probably found a way to warn them." He gave a small laugh. "You really think I'm that stupid?"

Dean grinned over at him.

Gordon stood up, walking towards the front door as he stared ahead, "No. The two of them are gonna scope the place first. See me covering the front door." He turned halfway around to look towards the back of the house. So they're gonna take the back. And when they do, they'll hit the trip wire."

Dean slowly raised his head.

"Then," Gordon continued, moving towards his bag and pulled out a grenade. "…boom."

"Neither one of them are gonna fall for a frigging trip wire. I taught Sarah too well for that," Dean said, proudly.

He looked over at Dean then at the wall. "Maybe you're right," and Gordon pulled out a second grenade, walking towards him again. "That's why I'll have a second one. Hey, look. I'm sorry. I wish I didn't have to do this, especially to a kid, I really do. But for what it's worth…it'll be quick." Gordon walked away, towards the back of the house.

Dean looked away, his heart starting to race as he thought of losing his brother and daughter in an explosion. He couldn't do it. He couldn't let that happen. Dean wasn't about to lose the two of them, the two he needed to protect. However, thinking about losing his little girl brought tears to his eyes that immediately ran down both sides of his face.

When Gordon finished setting up the trap, he walked back to the front of the house.

"Come on, man," Dean tried to plead with him. "I know both of them. Better than anyone. They both have more of a conscious than I do. I mean, Sam feels guilty surfing the internet for porn."

Gordon pulled a chair up, beside him, sitting on it backwards. "Maybe you're right," he said. "But one day, they're gonna be a monster."

"How? Huh? How does a guy like Sam or a kid like Sarah become a monster?"

Gordon looked at Dean, "Think back to that vampire hunt we all did. The lust in Sarah's eyes as she pounded that vampire, the way she went after me. I'm sure there's been other hunts too. In fact, I happen to know that little Sarah is being betted on to be top dog in this coming war."

"What?" Dean stared at the guy like he was crazy. "Sarah is the most caring, compassionate kid I know. Heck, person I know. She wouldn't lead a bunch of soldiers."

"The demon spewed a lot of information just on Sarah alone, and just how big of a role she'll be playing. She's more monster than you'd ever know."

"You shut your trap," Dean threatened him. "You know nothing of my daughter."

"Trust me, I know enough and eventually, she'll turn. Sarah won't be the innocent, little kid you know and love."

"You don't know that!" he spat, growing angrier.

"I'm surprised at you, Dean. Getting all emotional," Gordon told him.

Dean looked away, angrily.

"I'd heard you were more of a professional than this."

He scoffed at Gordon, out of the corner of his eye.

"Look, let's say you're cruising around in that car of yours and, uh, you had little Hitler riding shotgun, right? Back when he was some goofy, crappy artist. But you knew what he was gonna turn into someday. You'd take him out," Gordon snapped his fingers, "No questions. Am I right?"

Dean looked forward, "That's not Sam or Sarah."

"Yes it is." Gordon laid his left arm across Dean's right shoulder. "You just can't see it in Sam yet but Sarah…it's starting with her." He removed his arm and looked away for a second before returning his attention to Dean. "Dean, it's their destiny."

He didn't respond or look at the guy.

"Look," Gordon continued, "I'm sympathetic. Sam's your brother and Sarah's your daughter. You love them both. This has gotta hurt like hell for you." He shook his head at the floor and reached over into his bag to pull out a folded, bandana. Gordon stood up. "But here's the thing," he walked behind Dean and wrapped it around his mouth, forcefully, tying it, tight. "It would've wrecked him." Gordon returned to his seat. "But your dad…if it really came right down to it, he'd have the stones to do the right thing here. Are you telling me…you're not the man he is?"

Dean slowly glared over at Gordon who stood up again to return his chair back, farther away to watch the front door.

Sam and Sarah quietly walked towards the front of the house. Sam gave one last look at the motel stationary he had written the address on to make sure it was the right place. Sarah didn't stop though, she crept up to the house and carefully stepped on a wooden crate to look through the space between two wood panels of the house, and saw her father tied and gagged over in a chair. She scanned the room and saw it was indeed Gordon Walker who had tried to shoot her uncle and taken her father. Sarah felt her right fist clench, tightly.

Sam walked over, also quietly and looked for himself. He got his niece's attention and jerked his head for her to follow. The two of them hurried around the house to the back door and Sam saw it was locked. Sarah took a lockpick out from her back pocket and soon, she had the door unlocked but was nudged back as Sam went in first.

Once Sam stepped inside, Sam removed one of his shoes and tossed it ahead of them, ducking back outside, while shielding Sarah.

"There's probably two of them," Sarah whispered to him, quietly after the explosion.

Sam nodded, agreeing with her and removed his other shoe to toss that inside, emitting another explosion. They could hear Gordon apologizing to Dean from inside. Both Sam and Sarah hid back until Gordon was there and cocked their guns at him from behind.

"Drop the gun," Sam ordered him.

Gordon looked back, to his left at Sam from the corner of his eye. "Shouldn't take your shoes off around here. You might get tetanus."

"He said to put it down, Gordon," Sarah told him.

He slowly placed his rifle down on the floor, and slowly rose back up. "You wouldn't shoot me, would you? Because Dean thinks you both are some kind of saint."

"Yeah," Sam scoffed, "I wouldn't be too sure." He looked over at Sarah, "Go take care of your dad, I got Gordon."

Sarah nodded and started backing away, keeping her gun pointed at Gordon until she was out of the room. She then hurried over to where her father was still tied and gagged. She saw tears on his face as Sarah quickly started to untie his right wrist. "It's okay, Dad. Uncle Sammy's taking care of Gordon. We're both just fine, I promise." Once she had Dean's right wrist untied, she moved around to untie the other one before Dean removed the gag from his mouth.

Dean dropped to his knees and pulled his daughter into a hug, squeezing her tight.

Sarah tried to hug him in return but was finding it hard to breathe. "Dad…you're…you're squeezing me to tight."

He quickly let go and stood up just as Sam was coming into the room, bloodied up. Dean hurried over to him and gave him an once-over before heading into the back room. Sam stopped him.

"I let him live once," Dean said. "I'm not making the same mistake twice."

"Trust me," Sam assured him. "Gordon's taken care of. Come on." He reached out for his brother and pulled him along. The three of them headed out the front door.

The moment they were outside and halfway down the path, Gordon appeared and started shooting at them. The Winchesters ducked and took off at a run, eventually jumping into a ditch.

"You call this 'taken care of?'" Dean questioned his brother.

The Winchesters stayed in the ditch until several police cars pulled up, surrounding Gordon and arrested him on the spot, also searching his car.

Sarah smirked behind her, at Dean, "Anonymous tip, Uncle Sam's idea."

Sam smiled at him too.

"You're a fine, upstanding citizen, Sam," Dean said, watching as the police read Gordon his rights.

When it was all clear, the Winchesters headed for the Impala and got in, except for Dean. Sarah fell right to sleep once she climbed into the back seat and her head hit her monkey, using it as a pillow. Sam took the front seat and tried to call Ava, which he wasn't having much luck getting a hold of her, and Dean called the Roadhouse, pissed off.

"Gordon Walker was hunting Sam and Sarah?" Ellen was asking in surprise.

"Yeah, he almost killed all of us because somebody over there can't keep their frigging mouth shut," Dean spat at her.

Ellen rolled her eyes, "And you honestly think it was me? Or Ash, or Jo? No way."

"Who else knows about them, huh?" he demanded, looking back over his shoulder at Sam who was staring at his own phone. Dean turned back, facing forward. "You must've been talking to somebody."

"You can say a lot of things about us, but we aren't disloyal, and we aren't stupid," she shook her head at the ground. "We haven't breathed a word of this."

"Gordon said he had Roadhouse connections, Ellen."

"And this Roadhouse is full of other hunters," Ellen looked around the wall at the many hunters that were drinking and talking to each other. One was even disassembling a gun. "They're all smart. They're good trackers, each of them with their own patterns and connections. Hell, I could name twelve of them right now that are capable of putting this together." She sighed. "I am sorry about what happened, Dean. I love Sarah like she was my own. But I can't control these people. Or what they choose to believe."

Back on the road, Sam was still trying to reach Ava. "Hey Ave, it's Sam again, um," he said, leaving another voice message. "Call me when you get this. Just wanna make sure you got home okay. All right, bye." Sam hung up the phone.

Dean asked as he focused on the road, "Everything all right?"

"Yeah, I hope so," he replied.

"Well, Gordon should be reaching for the soap the next few years at least," Dean smirked.

"Sam agreed, "Yeah. If they pin Scott Carey's murder on him. And if he doesn't bust out."

Dean stayed silent for a second before he threatened, "Dude, if you ever take off like that again…"

"What?" asked Sam and smirked. "You'll kill me?"

"That's so not funny," Dean mumbled but Sam could still understand him.

Sam chuckled at that. "All right," he finally said. "All right, so where to next then?"

"One word. Amsterdam," Dean told him.

Sam looked away, holding his left hand up, "Dean."

"Come on, man," he said, "I hear the coffee shops don't even serve coffee."

"I'm not gonna just ditch the job."

"Screw the job."

Sam stared at his brother.

"Screw it. I'm sick of the job anyway," Dean admitted. "We don't get paid, we don't get thanked. Only thing we get's bad luck."

"Well, come on, dude," he said. "You're a hunter. It's what you were meant to do."

"I wasn't meant to do anything but be Sarah's dad. I don't believe in that destiny crap." Dean stared forward as he drove with his left hand.

"You mean you don't believe in my destiny, or Sarah's," Sam corrected him.

Dean looked over at Sam and looked forward again. He shrugged, "Well, whatever."

"Look, Dean. I tried running before. I mean, I ran all the way to California, and look what happened. Shoot, Sarah grew up away from hunting and it still found her. You can't run from this. And you can't protect either of us."

Dean glared over at him, this time, for a couple seconds. "I can try," he said, facing the road.

Sam watched him and looked down at his lap, also for a couple seconds. "Thanks for that," he told him.

Dean raised his eye brows, giving a small shrug but didn't say anything.

Sam looked back down at his lap, licking his lips, "Look, Dean, I'm gonna keep hunting. I mean, whatever's coming, I'm taking it head-on. So if you really want to watch my back, then I guess you'll have to stick around."

"Bitch," Dean simply stated.

"Jerk," Sam simply replied.

"Dorks." Sam and Dean looked back, over their shoulders as Sarah was leaning on her folded arms across the back of the front seat. They had thought the kid was still asleep.

The brothers smirked, "Brat."

There was a silent pause before Sam took his phone out again and redialed Ava's phone number.

Dean was surprised. "You're calling that Ava girl again? Are you sweet on her or something?" he smirked.

Sam put the phone to his ear, "She's engaged, Dean."

Dean shrugged, "So? What's the point of saving the world if you can't get a little nookie once in a while?"

The phone rang several times before Sam hung up and stared at it.

"What is it, Uncle Sam?" Sarah asked, concerned for her uncle.

"Just a feeling," he said and asked Dean, "How far is it to Peoria?"

"Which Peoria?" Sarah asked, being a smartass. "There are a few Peoria's in the U.S."

Sam ignored her and repeated the question. Dean looked at Sam, still surprised and drove all the way to Peoria, Illinois where Ava lived with her fiancé. They knocked at first but there was no answer. Heading inside with flashlights, they searched the place until they found Ava's fiancé lying in bed in a bloody mess, his throat slashed. Dean found sulfur over on the sill of an open window, and not long after that, Sam found Ava's engagement ring on the floor, at the foot of the bed.

Sarah tried to comfort her uncle by rubbing his back when Sam muttered, "Ava."


	65. Chapter 64

**Two more chapters are coming up in the next hour after I revise them. **

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 64

The Winchesters stayed in Peoria, Illinois for about a month, looking into Ava's disappearance. The boys anyway. Sarah helped the first week then when she couldn't find anything she just gave up and left it to her father and uncle, watching TV, or playing her PSP or with her action figures. When Dean took a break from researching in the evening, Sarah finally talked him into a _Pokémon _card battle since it had been a while, setting it up at the small table. Sarah shuffled her deck and dealt half of it to each of them so it was fair.

"I choose this guy, he seems tough enough," he smirked, placing a card of a black Doberman-like dog called Houndoom, with metal horns sticking out of its head like a ram's and an arrowhead-pointed tail.

Sarah fell back against her chair, "Aw man, you finally beat my Metang, Dad."

"Looks like I'm making a comeback," he shrugged.

Sarah sat up, sitting on the edge of the chair, to draw a card from the top of her facedown deck and looked at it. A wide grin spread across her face and looked at her father. "Not for long," she told him and placed it in the center of the table where her Metang card used to be. This card was of an orange, dragon-like Pokémon called Charizard, with horns sticking out of the back of its head and a flame on the end of its tail. The stats on the card showed it was a lot stronger than Dean's card and had to be discarded.

Dean shook his head. "How is it, every time we play you always get that card?" he questioned.

Sarah just shrugged, "I'm just lucky, I guess."

"Lucky my ass," he teased her and nodded once at her, "you're cheating, ain't ya? Next time, I'm shuffling and dealing."

Sarah just laughed at him.

Sam couldn't help snicker a little, to himself either. "Losing at a child's card game again, are we?" he told his brother.

Dean glared over at him. "Shut up," he said, using his crooked smile. Dean turned back to his daughter to continue the game. Later on in the game, he did get lucky too, and played a card that was even stronger and, believe it or not, Dean ended up winning for the first time. "How does it feel to lose to your dad?" he nodded at Sarah.

Being a good sport, Sarah held her right hand out to him and the two of them shook hands. "That was the best game I ever played, Dad. I don't even care I lost."

"Good, I'm glad," he told her, "because you know what happens to kids who lose to their dads?"

"No, what?" she asked, shaking her head not knowing where Dean was going with this.

Dean stood up from his seat and went around the table to grab his daughter up, into his arms and carried her over to the bed to hold her down and tickle her. "They get attacked," he said as he tickled her all over, pinning her down where she couldn't escape.

Sarah laughed out loud, "Dad, stop it." She tried to protect herself with her arms but Dean managed to work his way around them, getting her sides, stomach, and back. After a few minutes, Dean stopped to let her catch her breath, sitting back, onto the bed. Sarah crawled away before he could start up again but decided to tackle him, onto his back, pinning her right knee into his torso.

"Gotcha, Dad," she told him, grinning down at her father.

Dean grinned in return. "You think so, huh?" Suddenly, he sat up and flipped Sarah back onto her back again. "Looks like I got you."

Sarah shoved away his right arm that was leaning on her torso, fast. Dean wasn't putting all his weight on it, though. He didn't want to crush her. She then rolled out from under him and jumped on his back, digging her knee into it, this time.

"Man, Baby Girl, you are getting good at this," he admitted, starting to feel the pain in his lower back. "Get off, dude."

Sarah removed her knee but not her whole body. Instead, she lied down on him, hugging his neck. "Dad, did I ever tell you you're the best dad in the whole world?" she asked.

Dean looked at her and smiled. He lifted himself onto his left elbow to reach over and kiss the side of her forehead, holding it towards him. "Every day," he replied.

Sarah mimicked his smile before resting her head against his.

A camera phone shutter sound interrupted them, ruining the moment.

Dean looked over at his brother, "Dude, come on," he said, annoyed.

Sam laughed, holding his phone in his hand. "I thought it was cute and look, the picture turned out great." He stood up to walk over to the bed and showed Dean the picture. Dean wouldn't admit it but he really did love the picture of him and his little girl.

The Winchesters hadn't made it to the Roadhouse yet either to look up Sarah's records but Dean kept in contact over the phone and before they knew it, Ash managed to fix the problem. Now if there was ever a medical emergency, or run-in with police, or whatever it may be, Bobby or Ellen would be notified instead of Greg Holden. Sarah would have loved to see the look of her grandfather's face if he ever found out.

Ash wasn't sure why he was looking into some kid's personal records when it had nothing to do with the demon or anything supernatural. Deep down, past his tough, hardcore macho self, Ash sort of liked Sarah, he just wouldn't admit it. The kid was all right.

Now, Dean was out on a coffee run and to continue looking into Ava's disappearance while Sam and Sarah stayed back in the motel. Sam sat at his computer as he talked to Ellen on the phone. Sarah was hanging halfway off one of the beds, upside down as she played a _Dragonball Z _fighting game.

Sam glanced at his niece when he hung up. "Sarah, all the blood is going to rush right to your head if you stay like that," he told her.

Sarah finished up the fight, ending up the victor before she looked over at her uncle. "Isn't that a good thing? I thought blood to your head makes you think better."

"Yes, but too much blood could be damaging."

Dean walked in with the coffee, closing the door behind him. "What the hell are you two talking about?" he asked. Dean walked over and set the carton, holding the coffee, on the table.

"Trying to persuade Peanut over there not to hang upside down," Sam sighed.

Dean grabbed a clear, plastic cup with a straw and clear lid, by the top and handed it to Sarah. "Sit up," he told her, a little stern. "Sam's right, all the blood's gonna run to your head and make you pass out."

Sarah sat up, moving around to sit on the edge. She took the drink from him, "What's this?"

"I asked if they had anything with no coffee a kid could drink so I wouldn't have to make a second stop to get you something, and they said this is popular with kids," he explained. They said it's Vanilla Bean or something like that."

Sarah sipped the cold, white, chunky drink through the straw. "Needs chocolate," she stated afterwards.

Dean rolled his eyes, "You're welcome," he said and turned to his brother.

"Thank you, Dad," Sarah told him, smiling up at him and set the drink over on the nightstand before continuing her game.

"What did Ellen want?" Dean asked Sam.

"She's got nothing," Sam said. "Me, I've been checking every database I can think of: federal, state, and local. No one's heard anything about Ava. She just…into thin air, you know. What about you?"

Dean walked over to hand Sam his coffee, "No, same as before. Sorry, man."

Sam took the coffee, staring down at it. "Yeah," he murmured. He spoke in a normal tone again. "Ellen did have one thing."

"Hm," Dean acknowledged.

"Uh, a hotel in Cornwall, Connecticut," he explained. "Two freak accidents in the past three weeks." Sam took a sip of his coffee, turning in his seat to fully face Dean.

"Yeah, what does that have to do with Ava?" Dean asked, walking over to toss his lid on the nightstand by Sarah's drink.

"It's a job. I mean, a lady drowned in the bathtub. Then a few days ago, guy falls down the stairs, head turns a complete one-eighty. Which isn't exactly normal, you know?"

Dean was removing his jacket, listening.

"Look, I don't know, Dean, it might be nothing, but I told Ellen we'd think about checking it out."

"You did?" he asked, looking at the floor before sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Yeah," Sam replied.

Dean just stared at Sam, not saying a word.

"You seem surprised," he told him.

"Well, yeah, it's just, you know," Dean shrugged. "…not the patented Sam Winchester way, is it?"

Sam shrugged too, shifting in his seat. "What way is that?"

"Just figured after Ava there'd be, uh, you know, more angst and droopy music and staring out the rainy windows." Dean paused, staring over at his brother who wasn't saying anything. He felt an awkward tension between them. "Yeah, I'll shut up now," and moved around to lean up, against the headboard of the bed.

Not taking her eyes off her game, Sarah sat up onto her legs and lied across her father's legs, resting her chin just above his left knee that was crossed over the other.

"Look, I'm the one who told her to go back home," Sam stood up from his seat, looking ahead as he walked across the room. "Now her fiancé is dead and some demon's taken her off to God knows where. You know? We've been looking for a month now…" He sat down on the other bed, facing Dean. "…And we got nothing. So I'm not giving up on her but I'm not gonna let other people die either. We gotta save as many people as we can."

Dean thought on that for a second. "Wow," he said, "that attitude is just way too healthy for me and I am officially uncomfortable now, thank you."

Sam scoffed at the floor, shaking his head, with a big grin on his face.

"All right, call Ellen, tell her we'll do it," Dean gave in, staring ahead at the far wall.

Sam stood up and went back over where his computer was, picking up his phone.

Dean lifted his knee, trying to get Sarah's attention. Sarah sat up, onto her legs but did not look up from her game. "Sarah."

No answer.

"Sarah, I know you can hear me. Let's go. Get packing," he told her.

She didn't move.

"Do I need to spank some ass?"

Sarah won the fight she was fighting. "Dad, I won ten fights in a row," she told him, proudly.

"I have been trying to get your attention for the last minute, Sarah Lynn. Turn the video game off and start packing. We're leaving in ten minutes," Dean told her for the last time.

"Sorry, Dad. I didn't hear you," she apologized to her father.

Dean turned to his brother, who just got off the phone with Ellen again. "Sam, could you hear me from over there?" he asked.

Sam was sitting down, shutting down everything on his computer. "Sure could."

Dean looked back at his daughter. "Sam is farther away than you are, Sarah and he could hear me. For ignoring me, no video game for the rest of the week."

"But that's not fair, Dad," Sarah complained.

"Then learn not to zone out the real world when you're playing your video game."

"But…" she tried again.

He shrugged, "I'm not arguing with you on this, okay. End of story." Dean held his hand out for Sarah to place her PSP in, which she did, reluctantly and made to crawl off the bed. Dean set his coffee down on the nightstand and reached forward to pull her onto his lap. "Look at me. I'm not trying to be the bad guy here, but when I am talking to you, I expect you to listen. What if we were on a hunt and I gave you an important order or told you something was important? If you were spaced out in your own world like you were with your video game, you could be hurt, or worse killed. That's why it's important you keep your ears open. Okay?"

Sarah nodded. "I'll try harder, Dad. I promise," she said.

He kissed her forehead. "I know you have it in you, Baby Girl. I know you're not perfect but you can do this." Dean gently pushed her off his legs. "Now go get packed up so we can go kick some supernatural ass."

Sarah slid off her father and the bed, and hurried over to gather up her _Pokémon _cards she had left on the table from the other night, first, receiving a playful swat from him. Once the Impala was packed and ready to go, the Winchesters hit the road. It took at least fifteen hours, not including stopping to eat and when Sarah had to use the bathroom every four hours.

For the majority of the car ride, Sarah spent it playing with her army men and _Pokémon _figurines.

Sam looked back and watched a few times until he finally said, "You know, when I was a kid it was just army men fighting army men. Now it's army men fighting animals with magical powers."

Sarah looked up at her uncle, sitting on her left leg, sideways in the seat. "Pokémon don't have magic, Uncle Sam. They're called attack moves like Arcanine here," she picked up an orange dog-like Pokémon with black stripes and tan tufts of fur, and held it out to her uncle, "can use fire attacks like flamethrower."

Sam took the figurine, examining it. "How does it use a flamethrower?" Sam pays no attention when his niece watches the cartoon.

"No, dude," Dean stepped in. "It breathes fire from its mouth like a dragon does. It doesn't use a frigging flamethrower." He was getting better as he watched the cartoon to the point where Dean was becoming a fan himself.

"Sarah, I think you're creating a monster with this Pokeman thing," Sam told her, handing the figurine back.

Sarah gave an annoyed sigh and was going to correct her uncle like she used to have to do with her father until Dean corrected Sam for her.

"Sorry. _Pokémon_." Sam rolled his eyes and faced forward, letting Sarah return to her game.


	66. Chapter 65

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 65

Dean pulled up to a large, old fashioned, two-story mansion and parked. Sarah gathered up her toys into her duffel bag and got out with the boys.

"Dude, this is sweet," said Dean as he shut his door. "We never get to work jobs like this."

"Like what, Dad?" asked Sarah, slinging her duffel bag over her head and adjusting it behind her.

"Old school hunted houses, you know?" he replied. "Fog, secret passageways, sissy British accents. Might even run into Fred and Daphne while we're inside." The three of them walked up the front walk towards the front door. Dean chuckled to himself, "Mm, Daphne, love her."

"And there goes another cartoon you just ruined for me. Now, it's gonna feel awkward when I watch _Scooby-Doo_. Thanks for that, Dad," Sarah told him, annoyed.

They climbed the front steps when Sam stopped and noticed a black urn sitting on the side, next to the steps.

"Hey, wait a sec," he told Dean and Sarah who stopped to look back at him. Sam stepped closer to the urn. "I'm not so sure 'haunted' is the problem."

Dean came back down the steps to look for himself. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"You see this pattern here?" Sam pointed at an engraved design near the rim of the urn. "That's a quincunx. It's a five-spot."

"A what?" asked Sarah, confused.

"It's used for Hoodoo spell work?" Dean said.

"Right," replied Sam. "You never read up on Hoodoo rituals?"

"Very vague," she told him. "I know a crocodile was using it to control chickens."

Sam and Dean both gave the kid a look like Sarah was finally going crazy. Sarah looked between them. "It's in a video game I played once, at Mark's house. Sheesh."

The Winchesters headed inside the mansion and up to the front desk as a young woman walked in from another room.

"May I help you?" she asked them.

"Hi," Dean greeted her. "Yeah, I'd like a room for a couple of nights."

Suddenly, a little girl about Sarah's age ran in, almost running into Sam who backed out of the way in time.

"Hey!" the woman told the little girl who kept on running. Even though there was only one, Sarah could hear two girls as she watched the one run into the other room. "Sorry about that."

Sam shook his head, "No problem, I'm used to kids," he said, holding onto one backpack with two hands.

"Well, congratulations," she said, writing, "You could be some of our final guests."

Dean looked over at Sam, "Sounds vaguely ominous."

"No, I'm sorry. I mean we're closing at the end of the month," she told them, looking between Sam and Dean. She switched over to Dean again, "Let me guess. You guys are here, antiquing?"

"No, that was my Gram who liked antiquing," said Sarah.

Dean quickly wrapped his hand around her mouth, holding Sarah against his leg. "She's embarrassed, you know kids," he lied to the woman, smiling at her. "How'd know?"

She smiled at them in return, "You just look the type. So a king-sized bed? Or would you like two for your daughter?"

"What?" Sam quickly asked as Dean stared at her, releasing Sarah who had been trying to pry his hand from her mouth. "No. Uh, no. No. We're… Two singles. We're just brothers. Sarah here is my niece."

"Yeah," Dean added, quietly.

The woman looked embarrassed. "Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry." She forced a small smile before looking back down to finish writing.

Finally, Dean asked her, "What did you mean that we looked the type?"

The woman tried to answer but Sam changed the subject. "You know, um, speaking of antiques…you have a really interesting urn on the front porch. Where'd you get that?"

She shook her head, "You know, I have no idea. It's been there forever." The woman handed Dean back his credit card. "Here you go, Mr. Mahoggoff," and rang the bell for the concierge and reached back to grab the room key, also handing it to Dean. "You'll be staying in Room 237," she explained.

"Okay," Dean murmured and smiled at her.

A balding, elderly man, the same height as Dean walked up behind the Winchesters.

"Sherwin, could you show this family to their room?" the woman asked him.

The older man, Sherwin looked between Sam and Dean, mostly. "Let me guess. Antiquers?"

Sarah smacked her hand to her forehead before they followed Sherwin upstairs to their room as Sherwin talked about the place.

"Two different vice presidents laid their heads on our pillows," he said.

"What, no presidents?" Sarah shrugged.

Dean gave his daughter a gentle smack up-side the head. She glared up at him, holding the spot. No one said a word as Sherwin continued. Dean checked out the room while Sam looked through some papers. Sarah was the first to try out the bed, finding out just how soft it was. It took her a while to get situated on it and just when she did, Dean had to sit down on the other side, making them both collide into each other. Sarah wasn't too happy about it either.

"All right," said Sam, "Victim number one. Joan Edison, forty-three years old, a realtor. Handling the sale of the hotel and victim number two was Larry Williams. Moving some stuff out to Goodwill."

"Well, there's a connection," Dean spoke up. "They're both shutting the place down."

"So someone is trying to keep the hotel open?" asked Sarah.

"Looks like it and they're using hoodoo to fight back," said Sam.

"Who do you think is our witch doctor?" Dean asked. "That Susan lady?"

"Nah, it doesn't seem likely. I mean, she's the one selling."

"That old man seemed like he didn't want to leave, maybe it's him," Sarah pointed out.

Sam scrunched his face, "I don't know."

"Well, who then? That kid?"

"Of course, the most troubling question is, why do they assume we're gay?" Dean questioned, looking down at the floor.

"Well, you are kind of butch, probably thinking you're overcompensating for something," Sam told him.

"Like what?" Sarah asked innocently.

No one responded to that.

The room was silent until Sam suggested to Sarah, "Peanut, why don't you go see if that kid wants to play."

She looked over him, then over at her father, and then back to Sam. "Aren't we on a job?"

"Yeah, but you could find out a little more about the hotel from her."

Sarah struggled off the bed from the hole she was basically sitting in. "Fine but if she has me come to an imaginary tea party, you will so owe me."

"What is wrong with having a tea party?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "That is normal for little girls."

"Since when am I a normal little girl, Uncle Sam?"

Sam couldn't help laugh, "Just go, Peanut." Truth was, he wanted his niece to interact with other kids her age and how many chances were they going to get?

Sarah grabbed two of her favorite _Pokémon _figurines from her duffel bag and stuffed them into each of her shorts pockets. She then left the room in search of the little girl. On the way, Sarah looked at the décor that was scattered throughout the hotel.

At some point, as Sarah walked down a long hallway, she wasn't watching where she was going and bumped into a small table. It shook the table, making a long vase tip over. Luckily, Sarah caught it in time before it fell and went to turn it upright to set it on the table. The symbol that was on the urn outside was also on the inside of the vase and Sarah noticed it.

A voice startled her from behind. "What are you doing?"

Sarah turned around on the spot, which wasn't really easy considering the vase was a little heavy for her. "Oh, I was walking and I accidently bumped into the table. I was just placing this back." She then placed the vase back onto the table and moved closer to the other little girl, holding her hand out for the girl to shake. "I'm Sarah, by the way. What's yours?"

The little girl just stood there, watching her. "I'm Tyler. Want to play dolls with me?"

Sarah was smiling on the outside but inside, she was groaning. _Great! This is Kimmy all over again. _Sarah's other family was full of distant cousins ranging in several different age groups, from infancy to middle aged and older. One of them was a girl two years younger than Sarah who constantly wanted her to play with dolls, have tea parties, and play dress up. To Sarah, Kimmy was the most annoying kid she had ever met who followed her everywhere.

"Don't you have a Wii or something?" Sarah asked her.

Tyler shook her head. "Video games are stupid."

Sarah tried her best to hold her tongue. _Come on, Sarah. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions. _"Well then," she smiled, "show me these dolls of yours."

Tyler brightened up at those words and had Sarah follow her to an _Employees Only _room where Sam and Dean were talking to Susan. She headed straight for a couple dolls.

Sarah glared over at her uncle and mouthed, _you defiantly owe me. _

Sam just smiled at his niece.

Sarah tried to focus on the dolls Tyler was introducing her to but was also listening to the adults talking until Sam told Tyler about one of the dolls from the large dollhouse who's head was twisted around and offered to fix it for her.

"I didn't break it," Tyler replied from where she and Sarah were sitting on the floor. "I found it like that. Grandma would get mad if I broke them."

"Tyler," Susan said, "She wouldn't get mad."

Dean spoke up, "Grandma?"

Tyler looked over him. "Grandma Rose. These are all her toys."

"Oh, really?" he nodded, looking over at the dolls on the shelf. Where is Grandma Rose now?"

"Up in her room."

"You know, I'd…" Sam gave a small laugh, "I'd really like to talk to Rose about her incredible doll…"

Susan turned on him, fast, interrupting him, "No."

The Winchesters looked over at her.

She smiled, "I mean…I'm afraid that's impossible. My mother's been very sick and she's not taking any visitors."

The Winchesters exchanged looks between each other.

For the rest of the day, Sarah played with Tyler. She tried getting information out of her but Tyler was an average, little eight-year-old girl. Tyler really didn't know much so there wasn't much to talk about besides normal little girl stuff that really didn't interest Sarah at all. Though she wouldn't admit it, Sarah did enjoy being around another kid her age and they did compromised on their games a few times.

When Tyler showed Sarah the dollhouse, Sarah went and collected her own toys and lined them along the "yard" and on the roof as if they were the dolls' protectors. Sarah even caught herself laugh a few times. Of course, there comes a time when the fun comes to an end.

During their tea party, Sarah had brought her monkey to, trying to enjoy it, she happened to look over at the doll house. In one of the rooms, a doll who Sarah could have sworn been sitting on the little doll bed a second ago, was hanging from the ceiling by a piece of strong, thick, black string.

"Oh God," Sarah blurted out.

Tyler looked up from pouring imaginary tea. "What?" she asked and looked behind her where Sarah was staring at. Tyler looked back at her. "Did you do that?"

Sarah shook her head and jumped up to her feet. Quickly, she gathered all her toys and stuffed them in her pockets, thankful she had decided to wear shorts regardless of the cold, rainy air outside. "Thanks for letting me play with you, Tyler. It was fun." Sarah smiled down at her, "I don't get to play with other kids much but uh, I just remembered, my dad and uncle wanted me back in our room by now. So, uh, see ya later." Sarah grabbed her monkey and ran out the room and down the hall towards the room her family was staying in.

Sarah flung the door open, making Sam look up from his computer. "There's been another one!"

"What?" Sam stood up just as they heard a woman's scream from another room.

Sarah turned back to her uncle, "Where's Dad?"

"He went to go do some research on the grandmother."

At that point, the sound of the Impala was heard, pulling up outside. Sarah turned and hurried from the room, sliding down the banister to save time, and ran out to meet her father. She then told him what she seen.

Fifteen minutes later, an ambulance pulled up to the hotel and loaded a man inside. Susan explained to the two of them, he was one of the buyers who were going to demolish it.

"It wasn't Tyler, she was "pouring" tea when it happened," Sarah was explaining once Susan had gone back inside. She used quotations with her fingers when she said _pouring_.

"I couldn't find anything on Granny, but I have a hunch it could be her," said Dean. "You get anything from Tyler?"

"Besides different kinds of dolls, no. The kid's clueless."

Dean turned to head inside, "Come on. Let's see what Sam has found out."

Sarah followed her father up to their room to find Sam three sheets to the wind.

"Dude, what are you thinking?" Dean asked of his brother. We're working a case."

Sam was staring at the floor, miserably, "That guy who hung himself." He rolled his head, slowly. "I couldn't save him."

"What are you talking about? You didn't know. You couldn't have done anything?"

"That's an excuse, Dean," Sam looked up his brother. "I should've found a way to save him."

"Uncle Sam, are you okay?" Sarah asked, starting to worry about him.

"I should've saved Ava too," he added, still looking at Dean.

"Well, you can't save everyone, even you said that," Dean said, walking across the room. "Right, Baby Girl?"

Sarah agreed. "You can try your best but some things are out of your control."

Sam slammed his fist down on the table beside his chair, making Sarah jump a little in surprise. "No, you two," he exclaimed, "you don't understand. The more people I save, the more I can change."

Sarah asked, "Change what?"

"My destiny," he replied.

"What destiny?"

Dean quickly jumped in before Sam blabs the secret to Sarah. "All right, time for bed." He reached down to pull Sam up and led him over to one of the beds. "Come on, Sasquatch. Come on."

Sarah moved out of the brothers' way, watching them.

"I need you to watch out for me," Sam told Dean.

Dean struggled with his brother, "Yeah, I always do."

"No, no, no! You have to watch out for me. All right?"

The brothers stopped, facing each other.

"And if I ever turn into something I'm not…" Sam shook his head.

"Sam, shut up," Dean told him, knowing where his brother was going with this. "Sarah's right there."

Sam kept going anyway, "You have to kill me."

"What did I just say, Sam?"

"Dean," he grabbed a hold of him, "Dad told you to do it. To both of us. You have to."

Sarah's eyes widened but didn't say anything. She thought if whatever Sam was talking about, must have been the secret. But Sarah couldn't believe her grandfather would say something like that. She did remember him saying, killing the demon was more important than anything else but that?

"Yeah? Well, Dad's an ass," Dean blurted out, interrupting Sarah's thoughts. "He never should've said anything. You don't do that. You don't lay that kind of crap on your kids."

Sam had given him a disbelief look. "No, he was right to say it," he argued. "Who knows what I or Sarah might become? Even now, everyone around me dies."

"Well, I'm not dying, and neither is Sarah, and neither are you, okay? Come on, sit down." Dean continued to push his brother towards the beds and pushed him down on one of them.

Sam continued to plead with him, "No, Dean, you're the only one who can do it. Promise."

"Don't ask that of me."

"Dean, please." Sam huffed up at his brother, "You have to promise me."

Dean didn't answer right away as Sam sat there, staring up at him with those sad, puppy dog eyes he'd seen many times with Sarah. Finally he agreed, "I promise." He wished Sarah hadn't been in earshot of that but now it looked like she knew as he looked over at her.

Sam got his attention back, breathing in and out, "Thanks," and grabbed Dean's head between his hands. "Thank you."

Dean shoved his head away and forced his brother to lie down where Sam turned over onto his stomach, hugging the pillow to him. Dean sat down on the other bed and ran his hand along his hair, hating this stupid burden even more and cursing his father in his head for ever bringing it up.

Deep down, Sarah wanted to ask if that was the secret, just to make sure, but saw how messed up her father was at the moment. Instead, she went over and wrapped her arms around his neck. Dean pulled her closer to him and held her in his arms. Eventually, he lifted her up and moved closer to the headboard, holding Sarah on his lap.

The two of them sat there in silence, not saying a word. At some point, Sarah started singing the _Dumbo _song but somewhere halfway through, she fell asleep and shortly after, Dean did too.


	67. Chapter 66

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 66

Early, the next morning, Dean and Sarah were the first ones to wake up. Letting Sam sleep, they took a walk around the hotel with Dean having to explain what a hangover was before running into Sherwin who gave them a tour, telling them about the family estate. It turns out, Rose had a nanny growing up that wore the symbol that was on the urn and vase, as a necklace.

Once they had enough information, the two of them returned to the room to find Sam awake and keeled over the toilet, in the bathroom, groaning and puking his guts out.

Sarah called into the bathroom, "You all right in there, Uncle Sam?"

"Yeah, I'm…" Another round hit. "I'm fine, Peanut."

Dean laughed, "I guess mixing whiskey and Jager wasn't such a gangbuster idea, was it?" as he removed his jacket and slung it over the foot of his and Sarah's bed. "I'll bet you don't remember a thing from last night, do ya?"

Sam moaned, his forehead resting on his right arm, on the toilet bowl. "I can still taste the tequila."

Dean nodded. "You know, there's a really good hangover remedy. It's uh… It's a greasy pork sandwich served up in a dirty ashtray."

He moaned again, wanting to throw up some more, "Oh, I hate you."

"I know you do," Dean smiled out the window, his back to him.

"I got a better one, Dad," Sarah said, jumping onto the foot of the bed, on her knees as she held the bed railing, right in front of him.

"Let's hear it," he smiled down at her too.

"Old, smelly gym socks that's never been washed, soaked in cat urine and placed inside a greasy cheeseburger that you didn't know was in there and you take a bite of it." Sarah made sure to say it loud enough so her uncle could hear.

Oh God!" Sam basically threw what was left of his stomach contents into the toilet. "Peanut, I hate you too," he moaned as Dean held his hand out to her for a high five.

Dean changed the subject once Sam was done with that round, "Hey, it turns out, when Grandma Rose was a tyke she had a Creole nanny who wore a Hoodoo necklace. Ugh," he had walked over to lean against the bathroom door frame and turned his head at the awful smell.

Sam slowly lifted his head. "So do you think she taught Rose Hoodoo?"

"Yes we do," he said, looking at the floor.

Sam nodded a little and placed his hand on the toilet seat to lift himself up, onto his feet. "All right," he walked over to his brother to lean against the other side of the door frame, "I think it's time we talk to Rose then."

Dean made a sour, disgusted look as he got a whiff of Sam's horrible-smelling breath. "You need to brush your teeth first," he told him before walking away, grossed out.

The Winchesters snuck upstairs to Rose's room only to find the woman had had a stroke. Not only that but they were also caught by Susan and forced to leave early before they could even solve the case. The three of them decided on grabbing a bite to eat while they tried to figure out what it was they were dealing with.

Sam came up with Rose using Hoodoo for protection, not to hurt anyone from some kind of spirit and when she had the stroke the spirit was able to return. After they finished eating, they returned to the hotel just in time for Sam to rescue Susan from being hit by her car and led her inside who was scared out of her mind. Sam then asked her when her mother had had the stroke and found out it was just before the killings started.

In the meantime, Sarah was looking around the room, a gut-wrenching feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Where's Tyler?" As soon as she said that, an old type of vision struck through her mind that she hadn't had since the one of Lucas Barr.

This time, Sarah saw Tyler who was hanging onto a fence railing above a pool and suddenly get pushed in by another girl older than they were. Dean moved around his brother to kneel beside her.

"Sarah?" he questioned, worry all over her face.

Sam stood there, confused. He didn't feel anything come on. No vision, no pain, nothing. Why was only Sarah having a vision?

Soon, Sarah was able to snap out of it, down on her knees, panting. "Tyler's in trouble!" she quickly stated.

Susan stood up, fast, "What?"

Sarah very quickly and briefly explained the vision before they all took off at a run, heading for the pool area. The four of them were stopped at a locked, glass door. Dean and Sam started banging on it.

Sarah moved closer to the glass beside the door, peeking through it. There, beside Tyler on the other side of the railing was the girl she had seen. Suddenly, the older girl pushed Tyler off, making her fall in the pool. The moment Dean and Susan took off for another entrance, Sarah moved over to start banging on the door, her emotions rising up, inside of her until they were at record height and somehow the glass around her completely shattered into a million pieces.

Sam didn't hesitate to ask questions. He stepped through and leaped over the railing, diving into the pool in time to save Tyler. Sarah stood there, staring at her hands, which were bleeding all over with several shards sticking in them. What the hell was this power inside her and why did it only come out when her emotions filled up? It scared her to death as she slowly started to back away.

On the other hand, Tyler was saved. Susan was saved. Rose didn't make it though, the ambulance guessing another stroke, but Susan and Tyler was able to leave.

While Sam dried off and changed, Dean applied first-aid to Sarah's hands, picking out each shard first, not saying a word. He had asked about it but didn't push her when Sarah wouldn't respond, and Sam didn't know how to explain what happened. One of the paramedics checked her hands over too, to make sure she didn't need stitches or a tetanus shot.

When Dean pulled away from the hotel, Sarah leaned against the door on his side, staring out the window, trying to figure this whole mess out. Her grandfather knew something about her and her uncle and Sarah wished he had shared it with them. He must have known about the visions, John was just too of a good actor or something. Whatever it was, Sarah wanted to find out and was actually looking forward to the next time the demon popped in for another visit.

The next hunt was against a shapeshifter that was robbing jewelry stores and banks. Sarah sat this one out, wanting to spend some time with Bobby. She spent most of her time, outside where Bobby found her working on one of the cars he had out there as a radio played classic rock songs. He was impressed and blown away when one of the cars he thought would never run again, started running.

At night, Sarah prayed. She prayed for answers and help, not to turn into something that her father had to kill. She had to stay strong though and not give in to whatever this was. She tried to call out to the demon but nothing happened, making sure to stay out of earshot. By the time, Sam and Dean returned to pick her up Sarah was ready for any hunt.

Sarah sat on the foot of the bed, her uncle's computer open next to her as she flipped through the TV channels. She had been researching the deaths that had been happening around Providence, Rhode Island. Since Sam was not back yet from talking to a girl who was sent to a mental hospital, she had just decided to watch some TV. Sarah rolled her eyes when she glanced back at her father who had his earphones in and continued using the vibrating unit on the bed.

When she stopped on a church channel of a pastor preaching, she immediately skipped over it. Sarah hated TV pastors since all they wanted was money, sprouting nonsense. It wasn't easy for her find a pastor she could trust to preach the word of God after what happened before in Nebraska.

Once she found something decent to watch, Sam had finally returned. Sarah flipped the TV off and tossed the remote over her shoulder. "What did you find out?" she asked.

Sam tried to get his brother's attention so he could tell both of them but failed.

"He can't hear you," Sarah told him and walked over to pounce on her father, knocking the wind out of him.

Dean ripped his earphones from his ears, lifting his head to look at her. "Sarah, what the hell?" he exclaimed.

Sarah slid down to stand beside the bed. "Uncle Sam's back."

"What's up with you lately?" Sam asked of his niece, standing at the foot of the bed. "You've been acting…"

"Like a jackass," Dean finished for his brother.

"I was going to say very mean, and that was uncalled for, Dean."

"Well, it's the truth though." The vibrations turned off. "Aw, man. Hey, any of you got any quarters?"

Sam just waved his hand at him and turned around to head inside the bathroom, "you're enjoying that way too much, Dean."

Dean stood up and walked over to lean his hand on the door frame of the bathroom. "So did you get in to see that crazy hooker?"

"Yeah," Sam replied, turning off the water after he washed his hands. He turned around to face his brother as Sarah wandered up, holding onto the door frame as well. "Gloria Sytnik. And I'm not so sure she is crazy."

Dean shrugged his hand that was on the frame, "But she serious believes she was touched by an angel?"

"Yeah," he nodded, drying his hands now. "Blinding light, feelings of spiritual ecstasy, the works. I mean, she's living in a locked ward and she's totally at peace."

"Oh, yeah, you're right. Sounds completely sane. What about the dude she stabbed?"

"Uh, Carl Gulley. Said she killed him because he was evil?"

"And let me guess, she said it was God's will, am I right?" Sarah finally spoke up, sarcastically.

"Yeah," Sam replied. "What? I thought you believed in this stuff."

"Yes, I do believe in God and angels, but not phony crap people spew out about, 'oh, an angel spoke to me. They want me to do this.'" Sarah crossed her arms across her chest. "Why would an angel send a message to someone from God, asking them to do something when it clearly states in the Bible, not to do it? Hm?" An eye brow was raised at her uncle. "I've been doing research on the community and I came to a church that had lost its priest about two months ago. Sometime before the killings started. I don't know about you but I would take a guess here and say we're dealing with a spirit."

"What's the name of the church?" Dean asked, nodding down at his daughter.

"Our Lady of the Angels."

Dean rolled his eyes, "'Course that would be the name. Okay, why don't we go check this place out?"

"So you're interested in joining the parish?" the head priest was asking as he and the Winchesters walked through the church.

"Yeah. We just don't feel right unless we hit church every Sunday," Dean lied.

"Where'd you say you lived before?"

"Uh," Sam started to say until Dean said, "Premont, Texas."

"Yup," Sam agreed.

Sarah stayed quiet through the introductions. She'd lie if she had to but lying in a church just didn't feel right at all.

"Really, that's a nice town," the priest said, "St. Theresa's Parish. You must know the priest there."

"Sure, yeah," Dean smiled. "No, it's, uh, Father O'Malley."

"Hmm, I know a Father Shaughnessy."

"Shaughnessy, exactly," he nodded, "What did I say?"

"You know, we're just happy to be here now, Father," Sam told the priest.

"And we're happy to have you. We could use some young blood around here."

"Hmm," said Dean. "Hey, listen. I gotta ask, and no offense, but the neighborhood…?"

"It's gone to seed a little, there's no denying it," the priest explained. "But that's why what the church does here is so important. You can expect a miracle, but in the meantime, you work your butt off."

"That's what my papa says a lot. He worked up until the day he retired," said Sarah.

"That's a good man, right there, your papa," he said.

She had to stifle a laugh. "Being a hard-working man doesn't just make you a good man though."

"That is true."

Dean changed the subject, "We heard about the murders."

"Yes," the priest nodded, "The victims were parishioners of mine I've known for years."

"And the killers said that an angel made them do that?" Sam asked.

"Yes," the priest replied, sadly. "Misguided souls. To think that God's messenger would appear and incite people to murder."

"Thank you," Sarah said as if she heard the best words she's ever heard. "That's exactly what I said."

"Yes, it's tragic."

She agreed.

"So you don't believe in those angels yarns, huh," Dean shrugged, receiving a kick in the leg from Sarah who was standing in front of him.

"Oh no, I absolutely believe. Kind of goes with the job description," the priest pointed at his neck.

Dean went silent, feeling an awkward tension.

Sam broke it and pointed over to a painting of an archangel, "Father, that's Michael, right?"

The rest of them looked over at it.

The priest nodded, "That's right, the archangel Michael with the flaming sword." They all walked closer to it. "A fighter of demons. And a holy force against evil."

"So they're not really the hallmark-card version that everybody thinks?" Sam shrugged, his hands dug into his pockets. "They're fierce, right? Vigilant?"

"Well, I like to think of them as loving than wrathful," he said, looking between Sam and the painting. "But, yes, a lot of scripture paints angels as God's warriors. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, glory of the Lord shown down upon them," he nodded, "and they were terrified."

"Luke 2:9," Sarah smiled, proudly with her hands shoved into her jacket pockets.

"That's right," he returned the smile.

Sam and Dean just stared at the floor, as Dean nodded.

The priest walked them outside to the bottom of the front steps as Sam thanked him.

Dean pointed over to a memorial of flowers and candles, "Hey Father, what's all that for?"

"Oh, that's for Father Gregory," the priest explained. "He was a priest here."

"Yeah, we heard about his death. We're so sorry for your lost," Sarah replied.

He nodded, "Passed away right on these steps. He's interred in the church's crypt."

"Shot over car keys, right?"

"That's right." The priest looked over at the memorial. "He was a good friend. I didn't even have time to administer his last rites. But, like I said, it's a tough neighborhood," he looked back at the Winchesters. "Ever since he died, I've been praying my heart out."

Sam asked, "For what?"

"For deliverance," he said. "From the violence and the bloodshed around here. We could use a little divine intervention, I suppose."

Sam and Dean looked at each other. Sam looked over at the memorial while Dean looked at the priest, "Well, Padre," he smiled, "thanks. We'll see you again." Dean shook his hand and got another kick in the leg. Once the priest had gone back inside, he turned on Sarah, "What was that for?"

"The way you were talking to Father Reynolds," she told him.

He shrugged, "It's Spanish for father."

Sarah just rolled her eyes, looking away.

"This new attitude of yours has gotta stop. I don't know what's going on with you but if it won't, you and I will be chit-chating back at the motel. You understand me?"

"Yes, sir," she replied, quietly but where he could still hear.

Dean walked over and picked up the picture of Father Gregory. "Well, Sarah, looks like you were right," he said, looking at it. "Devoted priest dies a violent death. That is vengeful spirit right there. And he knew all the other stiffs, because they all went to church here."

Sarah agreed but Sam was looking everywhere but his brother and niece.

"In fact, I'm willing to bet, because he was their priest he knew things about them that no one else knew."

Sam looked down at Dean, "Then again…Father Reynolds started praying for God's help two months ago, right?"

Dean and Sarah exchanged looks between each other before looking back at Sam.

"About the time all this started happening?"

"Right and Father Gregory latched onto Father Reynolds' emotions and knew he couldn't let go until everything was set right. So he started telling people he felt would listen to him," Sarah explained.

"Why can't you back me up on this, Peanut?" Sam asked her.

Sarah was about to answer when Dean asked, "Come on, Sam. What's your deal?"

He shook his head at his brother, "What do you mean?"

"Look, I'll admit, I'm a bit of a skeptic but since when are you all Mr. _700 Club_?"

Sam looked away at that, smirking.

"Seriously, from the get-go, you've been willing to buy this angel crap, even after what Sarah said. I mean, what's next, you're gonna start praying with her every day?" Dean turned and set the picture back in its place.

"I do."

Both Dean and Sarah looked up at him.

Dean asked, "What?"

"I do pray every day," he said. "I have for a long time."

Dean couldn't believe what his brother just admitted. "Things you learn about a guy…" he looked away. "Huh."

"But why didn't you tell me?" Sarah asked her uncle. "I mean, I've been praying for you _and _Dad. It's no fun when you're alone on something like that."

Sam looked down at his niece. "I'm sorry, Peanut. I never really thought about it like that. You call yourself a Christian, I don't really consider myself anything," he shrugged.

Sarah shrugged as well, "A person can call themselves whatever but there's only one God."

He nodded.

Dean was rubbing the back of his head, feeling uncomfortable. "Okay, let's go check out Father Gregory's grave."


	68. Chapter 67

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 67

The Winchesters headed back inside the church where Sam was held back by a shaking statue. By the time Dean and Sarah got back to him, Sam was on the ground. Dean hurried to his side, followed by Sarah, making sure he was okay before Dean helped him into another room. Sam sat down on the front pew where Dean offered him a drink.

Sam declined the offer.

"Seriously, Dad?" Sarah asked, annoyed. This hunt was really putting her on edge.

"What?" Dean shrugged after screwing the lid back on once he had taken a swig.

Sarah just folded her arms, focusing on her uncle. "It is not an angel. It's Father Gregory's spirit," she repeated for the third or fourth time.

"Sarah, you didn't see it. It just…it appeared before me," Sam told her.

"Yeah, usually spirits appear because you know, they're spirits."

"No, it wasn't like that all. This feeling washed over me, you know, like…like peace. Like grace."

Sarah covered her eyes in one hand as she walked away.

"Okay, ecstasy boy," Dean joked, "Maybe we'll get you some glow sticks and a nice Dr. Seuss hat?"

"Dean, I'm serious," said Sam. "It spoke to me. It knew who I was."

He shook his head, walking over to sit on the other side of the pew, "It's just a spirit, Sam. Okay? And it's not the first one to be able to read people's minds." When he was sitting, Dean said, "Okay, let me guess, you were personally chosen to smite some sinner. You just gotta wait for some divine Bat Signal, is that it?"

"Yeah, actually," Sam nodded at him.

Sarah was now rubbing her eyes with her back to the brothers. She would have loved for Father Gregory to have been an angel instead but after all she's learned and memorized from constantly having to write Bible verses her grandfather made her copy over and over when she used to misbehave, she honestly knew in her heart he was just an avenging spirit.

Dean raised his eye brows, smiling at Sam, "Great. I don't suppose you asked what this alleged bad guy did."

"Actually I did, Dean," replied Sam. "And the angel told me. He hasn't done anything…yet. But he will.

"Oh, this is… I don't believe this," Dean chuckled to himself, standing up.

"Dean, the angel hasn't been wrong yet," he raised his voice to Dean. "Someone is gonna do something awful and I can stop it."

Dean looked over his shoulder, "You know, you're supposed to be bad too, Sam. Maybe…maybe I should just stop you right now."

"Dean, I don't understand. Why can't you even consider the possibility?"

"What, that this is an angel?"

"Yes!" Sam exclaimed. "Maybe we're hunting an angel here and we should stop. Maybe this is God's will."

Sarah lifted her head, suddenly and looked back at her uncle. "Have you paid no attention to me _or _Father Reynolds?" she demanded of her uncle. "God said, thou shall not murder, Uncle Sam. He meant that for a reason. God wouldn't send an angel down to give that task to someone. Okay? And if by some chance this is an angel, which I'm not saying it is, then it's a fallen angel."

Dean couldn't take any more talk of God and angels. "Okay you guys. All right," he said as he went back over to the pew, "you know what? I get it." He sat down again. "You've both got faith. Hey, good for you. I'm sure it makes things easier." Dean leaned back, placing his right arm across the back of it. "I'll tell you who else had faith like that: Mom."

Sam and Sarah looked over at him, surprised. Sarah calmed her nerves a little as they listened.

"She used to tell me when she tucked me in that angels were watching over us. In fact that was the last thing she ever said to me."

Sarah shrugged, "Why is that so hard to believe?"

He looked over at her, "Because she was wrong." Dean shook his head, "There wasn't anything protecting her. There's no higher power, there's no God."

Sam looked down at the floor while Sarah just stood there. She could feel her cheeks glowing hot and her eyes gloss over as her lower lip quivered.

Dean shrugged, "I'm sorry to rain on your parade, Baby Girl, but look around. There's just chaos and violence. Random, predictable evil that comes out of nowhere and rips you to shreds."

"God doesn't like it any more than we do. In fact He takes a bad situation and brings something good from it," Sarah sniffed.

"But why doesn't He just stop it? Hm? Why let all this evil happen?" Dean shrugged. "I'll tell ya why, He's not real. You and Sam can believe what you like but leave me out of it. Okay? Show me some proof and maybe then I will consider it."

A tear floated down, gently. Sarah wiped it away and suddenly removed her own leather jacket, balling it up before she threw it at her father. She then bolted from the room to wait in the foyer for them.

Sarah sat down on a bench and leaned forward on her knees. "God, please. Help me. All this You put on me…the demon stuff that I still have no clue on, the visions, Dad. I love that man with all my heart. And it hurts to know he doesn't believe in You. Please, show him a sign You're there, God. Anything will do. Please." She rubbed her face along her hands and just sat there until her father and uncle came in.

"Come on, Baby Girl," Dean told her, gently. "We're leaving."

Sarah stood up and started walking towards the main doors, not looking up at him.

"Hey, wait. I know you're mad at me and all, but it's getting dark and it's cold out there," he held her jacket up that once belonged to him when he was around her age. Bobby had a box of clothes stashed away that the boys had left behind by mistake the last time John had ever dropped them off and Sarah instantly wanted it since it looked almost like the one Dean had now. Now Sarah wasn't sure she wanted to be like her father anymore.

"No thanks, I'll be fine," she told him, bitterly.

"Come on, Sarah. I don't want you catching pneumonia," he kept trying.

Sam walked over to them and removed his own jacket, holding it behind his niece. "Here, Peanut."

Sarah looked back, over her shoulder at the jacket and looked up at him before sliding each arm through. Sam kneeled down in front of her to roll up the sleeves. Compared to Sam, it looked like Sarah was wearing a trench coat or something.

Dean folded her jacket over his right arm as the three of them went out to the Impala which he made sure to stay close to Sarah since he didn't trust the neighborhood at all. The Winchesters headed to a convenient store to pick up a few items.

When Sarah heard they were going to hold a séance over Father Gregory's grave, she was appalled. "Are you nuts?" she asked before they went in the store, and took a deep in, blowing it out. "Fine, Dad. You don't want to believe then so be it. But can you at least show a little respect? That is God's house who the rest of us love."

Dean just shrugged, holding his hands out to her, "Look Sarah, I'm done with this conversation. Okay? I am just trying to prove to Sam that we are dealing with a spirit here. I don't care who's house it, whether it's God's or Martha Stewart's house." He then grabbed the door and shoved it open before going in.

Sarah followed when her uncle told her too. They grabbed the stuff and got out, which Sarah called dibs the _Spongebob Squarepants _placemat when they were through with it as she walked over to the Impala. Dean unlocked her door for her once he had his unlocked so Sarah could climb in.

As Sam was walking towards the Impala, he noticed a bright light ahead of him along with a man holding a bag of groceries. "Dean, that's it," he said.

Dean looked over at him, over the roof of the car, "What?"

Sam pointed at the man, "That's the sign."

Dean looked over at it as Sarah stood up, onto her knees and looked out the back window. Sarah could see the blinding light which only meant they were dealing with a spirit and told her uncle through the window she rolled down.

Sam still wouldn't give in and tried to follow the man. Dean stopped him. Sam tried to plead with Dean once more. When it looked like he was giving in, Dean drove off, telling him to go take care of the séance.

Dean tailed the man, following him to a house where he was picking someone up. In his hand looked like a bouquet of roses. Sarah curiously leaned over the passenger side of the front seat, resting her chin on her folded arms. The two of them watched as he handed the flowers to the other person they guessed was a woman and opened the passenger door for her. The woman got in before he closed it, going around to his side.

"Seems good to me, but looks can be deceiving," Sarah shrugged not lifting her head.

Dean glanced at her for a second. "You're not buying this now, are ya?"

"I still think it's Father Gregory too but what if it's true. What if this guy will do something?"

Dean continued to follow the man until they turned a corner and Dean lost him. "Damn it," Dean hit the steering wheel. "I could use one of your visions right about now."

"Okay, yeah, let me just turn that right on for you," Sarah told her father, sarcastically as she lifted her head.

"All right, all right. I was kidding, smart ass," he replied. Dean kept driving as the two of them looked down each alleyway. Eventually, it was Sarah to spot the man's car. He quickly turned down the alley and stepped on the brakes once he pulled up behind the man and saw he was hurting the woman or trying, at least. "Stay here," Dean told Sarah as he stepped out of the car.

Dean hurried over and smashed through the man's window, knocking him out before unlocking the woman's door. Sarah had climbed over the front seat and rowed down the passenger side window to stick her head out, right as the woman hurried from the car and Dean rolled over the hood.

"Are you okay?" he asked, holding onto the woman's upper arms as she was crying. "Are you okay?"

"Thank God," Sarah heard her manage to utter.

The car started and drove off as Dean shoved the woman out of the way.

"Damn it," he said again as he watched it and refocused on her. "You sure you're okay?"

She nodded, still crying.

"Do you have a cell phone?"

She nodded again.

"Call 911," Dean told her and hurried back to the Impala and jumped in, driving after the man. He barely noticed Sarah leaning on the door, in prayer as she sat on her right foot. He couldn't believe she was praying at a time like this when he knew nothing would be done unless he got his hands on the guy.

Dean raced after him, his foot pushing the gas pedal all the way to the floor. Sarah held on as they went over bumps and when Dean had to swerve. Finally, the man came to an intersection just as a black car was driving by, making a blue pick-up truck that was ahead swerve. The man stepped on his brakes as a long, lead pipe went flying through the air and crashed right through the windshield, stabbing right through his chest.

Dean stepped on his brakes as well and swerved around the man's car, pulling up, slowly next to it. Dean looked over and saw the pipe sticking through the windshield and stared in amazement as Sarah got up, onto her right knee to get a better look.

He looked over at his daughter, "Sarah, what were you praying before after we rescued the girl?"

Sarah looked back at him and glared at him. "What do you care?" she asked.

"Please, just humor me," he said.

"If you must know, I was praying for the woman and for justice to be served."

Dean slowly looked back over at the man's car before stepping out of the car and walking around to look inside. The pipe was not only pierced through the man's chest, it had gone through the back of the seat too.

Dean was at a loss for words, his chest moving rapidly. When he finally did find his voice, he said, "You were right, Baby Girl. You…you were right," unable to remove his eyes from the scene.

"About…?" she asked, leaning on the door again.

"God," was he could utter.

Sarah jerked her head back as her eyes grew wide. She looked skyward as tears filled her eyes as she mouthed, _thank you_. Opening her door as fast as she could, Sarah jumped out and wrapped her arms around her father's legs, snapping him out of his trance. Dean then lifted her up and held her in a tight embrace, stopping long enough to ask her if she was okay from the car chase and Dean having to step on his brakes and swerve at top speed, which Sarah proudly said that she was defiantly was now and continued to hold each other.

It wasn't long before the ambulance was there, where Dean explained what happened and got out of there before the police showed up.

On the drive back to the motel, Sarah was removing her uncle's jacket and threw hers back on.

Dean watched her as he drove with his left hand. "Hey, I'm sorry about today. All right? We butted heads quite a lot didn't we?" He smiled at her.

Sarah looked up at him when she had her jacket back on. "Yeah, I'm sorry too," she told him.

"How come you were so intent on me believing in God?"

Sarah shrugged, "All my life I've been taught you should believe that we were born into this evil world as sinners and the only way to be saved from it was to believe in God. I wanted you to be saved, Dad. You're a good person, doing good things for other people."

Dean had been watching the road. He looked back at her, still keeping an eye on it. "Well, I hope you don't expect me to start praying, or reading the Bible, or anything and I'm still skeptic on angels but I get there's a God up there somewhere," he finished as he faced forward again.

"Hey, I'll take what I can get and now I have Uncle Sam to pray with," she said, excited.

Dean smiled over at his daughter, "And you can pray enough for the both of us, how's that?"

"Sure, and maybe one day I can convince you start on your own."

He laughed at that. "Right, and maybe one day we will meet an angel," he said, sarcastically.

Sarah shrugged, "Who knows, maybe one day we will."

"Yeah right," Dean looked over at his daughter, "the day I meet an angel is the day I will dance ballet while wearing a frilly, pink dress and singing a crappy pop song."

"Can I get that in writing?" she asked and burst out, laughing, making Dean laugh, as well until they literally had tears in their eyes.

"Sure, kiddo. If I do meet an angel I promise I will do that," he told her when he found his breath and pulled Sarah in to hug her head to him, kissing the top of it. "I love you, Baby Girl."

"Love you too, Dad," she smiled up at him.

So far, things seemed to be looking up for Sarah and hoped it'll last for a while. But of course, it didn't. Not even through the night. When the two of them arrived at the motel, Sarah bounded into their room, happily only to find Sam packing and looking depressed.

When Sarah asked what was wrong as Dean came in, shutting the door behind him, Sam explained how it really was Father Gregory's spirit. Dean offered him a drink after taking one himself.

After Sam took a swig of it, he slowly sat down on one of the beds. "I wanted to believe…" he shook his head. "…so badly I'd…It's so damn hard to do this…what we do."

Sarah went over and sat down beside her uncle. "No one said life was easy, not even God Himself," she told him.

"But there's so much evil in the world, Peanut, I feel like I could drown in it," he told her. "And when I think about our destinies, when I think about how we could end up…I mean, doesn't it scare you, Peanut?"

"Yeah, it does scare me," she agreed. "But every time a vision happens or my abilities come out, I just start praying. You don't think I want answers to all of this? Why do you think I sat that last hunt out? Believe me, shapeshifters are the coolest monsters we'd hunted so far, except for one shifting into my dad, that wasn't cool. But I used some of that time to maul things over with God and in time we will get answers when it's the right time. It's a pain in the ass but someday it will all make sense and whatever the demon wants to do to us, we'll just send his ass right back to hell where he belongs."

Sam couldn't help smile at his niece and placed his left arm around her.

Dean had sat down on the foot of the other bed, listening. "Besides, Sam, don't worry about it, because I'm watching out for you both."

He looked over at him, "Yeah, I know you are. But you're just one person, Dean. And I needed to think there was something else watching me too, you know?" Sam shrugged, forcing a small laugh, "Some higher power." He glanced down at his lap for a second. "Some greater good. And maybe…"

Sarah was leaning against her uncle, looking up at him, "Maybe what, Uncle Sam?"

"Maybe I could be saved."

"That's what faith is for, and prayer," she told him and repeated what she had told her father in the car.

Sam looked away, unable to look his niece in the eye anymore. "No, Peanut. None of that is true. Your dad's right, we have to go with what we know, with what we can see…What's right there in front of our own two eyes."

Dean was staring at the floor, "Yeah, well, it's funny you say that."

He looked at him, confused, "Why?"

"Gregory's spirit gave you some pretty good information," he said, looking over at Sam. "The guy in the car was bad news. We barely got there in time."

"What happened?"

Dean looked at the floor again, clicking his tongue and looked over at him again, "He's dead."

Sam sat up straight, raising his eye brows for a second, before lowering them. "Did you…?"

"No," he shook his head. "But I'll tell you one thing. If…The way he died and right after Sarah prayed for justice to be served too, if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes I never would have believed it." Dean paused for a few seconds. "I mean…I don't know what to call it," he forced a small smile.

Sam asked, eagerly, "What?"

Dean looked away at the floor, yet again.

"Dean, what did you see?"

"Maybe..."

Sarah couldn't help smile at what her father was about to say.

He looked at Sam, "…God's will."


	69. Chapter 68

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 68

Over the last week, Dean had been going insane, trying to find Sam…again. Sam had went out to grab dinner this time since Dean had done it the last couple times and never returned.

Dean tried to call Ellen a dozen times but this time, she hadn't heard from Sam at all. Finally, while parked near a dirt lot of several dozen cars, Sam called Dean telling him where he was, sounding confused, himself. Dean hopped in the car and took off for Twin Lakes.

Pulling up to the motel, Dean and Sarah jumped out and ran inside, heading for Sam's room. Dean pounded on the door, yelling for him. When there was no answer, Sarah opened it as she slowly peeked in until they were sure it was Sam and went inside.

Sarah ran over and wrapped her arms around his neck but Sam didn't hug back. "What happened to you, Uncle Sam? We were worried about you," she told him.

Dean kneeled beside where his brother was sitting on the foot of one of the beds. "Are you bleeding?" he asked, noticing the blood.

"I tried to wash it off," he told them.

Dean looked him over, examining the blood on the front of Sam's shirt. "Oh my God," he said suddenly, spreading it out.

"I don't think it's my blood."

"Then whose is it?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know," Sam admitted.

"Sam, what the hell happened?" Dean asked of him.

Sam slowly raised his head, "Dean. I don't remember anything."

Dean and Sarah stared at Sam, in disbelief and worry for him. Dean left again to go get something to eat and to ask the motel manager when Sam checked in. Sarah stayed back to make sure Sam didn't disappear on them again.

"What'd you find out?" Sam asked when Dean returned.

"You checked in two days ago under the name Richard Sambora," he explained, setting the food on the table by the door as Sarah hurried over to sit down. Dean dug out the food, placing Sarah's in front of her, on the table. "Of course, I think the scariest part about this is that you're a Bon Jovi fan."

"Dean," Sam told him.

"Your room's been quiet. Nobody noticed anything unusual."

Sam walked away, "You mean no one saw me walking around covered in blood?"

Dean shrugged, "Yeah, that's what I mean."

"Then how the hell did I get here, Dean?" Sam shrugged as well. "What happened to me?"

"Dad's not psychic, you know. He doesn't know everything so don't take it out on him," Sarah told her uncle off. "We weren't with you for the past week."

"Besides, you're okay and that's what matters," Dean added, removing his jacket and tossed it on the nearest bed. "Everything else we can do."

"Oh, really?" asked Sam. "What if I hurt someone? Or worse…"

Sarah was about to say something else until Dean stopped her and told her to eat. "Sam, please," he turned back to his brother.

Sam was silent as Dean turned back to taking out the food from the bag. "What if this is what Dad warned you about?"

"Hey, whoa, whoa," Dean said, turning back to his brother. ""Let's not jump the gun here. We don't know what happened. We just gotta treat this like any other job. What's the last thing you remember?"

"It's the three of us in that motel room in West Texas," he said, looking away. Sam sat down, slowly on the bed. I went out to grab some burgers…"

"West Texas?" Dean walked towards him.

"But that was a week ago," Sarah pointed out.

"That's it," he admitted. "Next thing I knew, I was sitting here."

"You have no recollection since over a week ago?" she asked, astonished. "What, you've been hitting the bottle or something?"

Dean looked back at his daughter, amazed she knew that phase. "What do you know about hitting the bottle?" he asked her.

"Try spending four hours in a car with Mom and see if you don't learn something from listening to country music," she told him, leaning on her right arm beside her.

Dean shrugged in understanding and turned back to his brother.

"It felt like I've been asleep for a month actually," Sam added, nodding at the floor.

"Okay," Dean said as he walked across the room. "Retrace your steps. The manager said you left yesterday afternoon and never saw you come back so…" He walked over to the window and pushed the white, thin curtain back to look out, noticing bloody fingerprints on the window frame. "Hey," he called over to Sam who stood up and hurried over to him.

Sarah hurried over as well, squeezing in, between the brothers. After they ate, the Winchesters started retracing Sam's steps. First, they found a car garage that Sam had a key for. Looking inside, there was an old Volkswagen car with an opened pack of cigarettes, blood on the steering wheel, and a bloody knife on the floor in the backseat.

She wasn't sure what her father was thinking, but Sarah was really starting to feel afraid what her uncle had done the past week. Sarah rationalized in her head though if Sam had done something, there had to have been a good reason he did what he did.

After Sam found a gas receipt from two towns over, the three of them headed for the gas station next which he was not welcomed in. Dean told him to go wait in the car before asking the clerk which way Sam had headed when he was last there. Once Dean got the directions and paid for the booze and cigarettes Sam had stolen, he grabbed a couple energy bars and walked out as Sarah quickly followed.

They drove for a while into nightfall, until Sam remembered a side road and had Dean go down that road, stopping in front of a house. Walking up the front steps, Dean eventually knocked on the door. The lights inside were off.

Sam noticed a broken window and alerted Dean.

"I'm surprised the cops didn't show," Dean said. "Place like this, you'd think it'd have an alarm." He looked inside with a flashlight while Sam kept walking across the porch, finding a cut alarm system around the corner.

"Yeah, you would," said Sam, looking back at Dean and Sarah, who was also trying to shine a flashlight through a window. Dean wouldn't let her near the broken glass though so it wasn't an easy task shining a flashlight through it.

Breaking into the house, the Winchesters wandered through it, looking for anyone or anything that could jog Sam's memory, and found something they did. There was a man lying in an office room, on the floor with a dried puddle of blood near his head, dead.

Sarah looked up at her uncle when Dean flipped him over on to his back.

"Dean, I did this," Sam told his brother, sadly.

"We don't know that," he said from where he was squatting on the floor, looking around the room.

"What else do you need?" asked Sam. "I mean, how else do you explain the car, the knife, the blood?"

Dean looked up at him, "I don't know, man. Why don't you tell me?"

Sam didn't respond.

Dean looked at the body then back at Sam. "Even if you did do this, I'm sure you had a reason. You know: self-defense, uh, he was a bad son of a bitch, something." He patted the body down, looking for ID but there wasn't any.

Asking for Dean's lockpick, Sam went over and unlocked the two sliding, closet doors, opening them up to reveal an arsenal of weapons. He then realized that he may have killed another hunter.

They learned the truth of how the man died via the surveillance footage on his computer. Sarah stood in front of her father, holding onto his left arm he was leaning on the desk. She bit her lower lip at the horror of her uncle cutting the man's throat. Unable to take her eyes off the screen, she started gripping Dean's arm tighter. Dean tried to pull it out of her grasp as he tried to stand up but she wouldn't let go.

Finally, Sarah looked over at her uncle. "There has to be an explanation, right?" she asked. "You wouldn't just kill him for nothing." Sarah was mostly trying to convince herself more than Sam. It scared her to think her uncle would intentionally do that to a person but what scared her even more was the possibly she could end up like that next.

Sam wasn't even listening to her. He just sat there, staring at it too. Dean was able to pull his arm out from his daughter's grip and quickly started wiping everything they touched down. Sam found a letter from the guy's daughter to him and was reading it when Dean went back over to him.

"How do you erase this, huh?" he asked Sam, pointing at the computer screen.

Sam still wasn't responding.

Dean tapped his left arm as well as Sarah's left shoulder who was also still in shock from what they had witnessed. "Sam, Sarah, come on. I need your help," he told them.

Sarah snapped out of it and started helping her father wipe down everything.

Sam didn't move. "I killed him, Dean," he muttered loud enough Dean could hear. "I just broke in and killed him."

Dean was kneeled down, wiping down the window sill and turned to look at him, "Listen to me. Whoever this guy is, he's a hunter. Which means other hunters are gonna come looking for his killer. Which means we gotta cover our tracks, okay?" He stood up and walked towards the door.

"His name was Steve Wandel," Sam said, still staring at the note. Dean turned back around at him. This is a letter from his daughter." Sam held up the letter and tossed it on the desk as he exhaled.

Dean was silent for a moment as he looked around the floor, trying to figure out what to say. Instead, he reached down and grabbed the computer hard drive and slammed it into the floor, before putting his foot through it. The crash made both Sam and Sarah jump, immediately looking over at Dean.

Once the hard drive was destroyed, Dean tossed one of the cloths he was using onto the desk, telling Sam to wipe his fingerprints before they left. They finished up and quickly got the heck out of there, returning to the motel room Sam had been staying in.

On the way there, no one said a thing to anyone. The car ride was in silence as each Winchester tried to make sense of the whole situation. Sarah thought about her abilities and when they came out. She wondered if there ever came a time when she wouldn't be able to control her emotions and ends up hurting someone and suddenly, something she never thought on before that moment, clicked on in her head.

Back at the hospital, after the accident when she had blown up at her grandparents and second cousin, the lights started flickering. If she could do that, what else was Sarah capable of? And more importantly, was Sarah next to randomly kill someone? She remembered Gordon had been after her and Sam. So was that hunter after them too? There were so many questions floating around inside Sarah's head that it made her head hurt.

Dean pulled up to the motel and the three of them got out and went up to the motel room. Sarah went over to the bed to remove her tennis shoes which were looking a lot worse by now. With what had been going on, shoes for his daughter had been the last thing on his mind and since he had to use most of the cash he had recently won in a pool game on Sam, it would again be a little while before Sarah had new shoes.

"All right, we get a couple hours of sleep, then we put this place in our rear-view mirror," Dean walked over and set his duffel bag on the foot of the bed, beside Sarah. Once Sarah had thrown off her shoes, she lifted her duffel bag strap over her head and turned around to take out a pair of shorts to change into before running into the bathroom and closing the door. Dean had looked over at Sam, who was wandering around the room, not saying anything. "I know this is bad, okay? You gotta snap out of it."

Sam turned around more, rubbing his eyes with one hand.

Dean was watching him. "Sam, say something."

"We should get some sleep and leave in the morning?" Sam questioned his brother. "Murder, Dean. That's what I did."

"Maybe, okay? Hey, we don't know…" he shrugged. "Shapeshifter."

"Come on. You know it wasn't. You saw the tape." Sam walked over to stand between the two beds. "There was no eye flare, no distortion."

Dean walked around the bed he was standing next to, "But it wasn't you. All right. Yeah, it might've been you, but it wasn't you."

"I think it was," he stated at the ground, his hands shoved into his pockets and slowly sat down on the bed behind him. "I think maybe more than you know," leaning his forearms on his knees.

"What the hell does that mean?" Dean stared at his brother.

"For the last few weeks, I've been having…." Sam shook his folded hands on his knees, "I've been having these feelings."

Dean moved closer, "What feelings?"

Sam was looking away, to his right. "Rage," he said as Dean went over to sit across from him.

"Hate. And I can't stop it."

Dean stared at him, listening.

"It just gets worse. Day by day, it gets worse."

"You never told me this," Dean finally said.

"I didn't want to scare you," Sam told him.

Dean was thinking about it in his head and wondered if Sarah was having these feelings as well. He turned his head and yelled, "Sarah!"

"I'm going to the bathroom!" she yelled back.

Dean sat and waited until Sarah finished up in the bathroom, washing her hands before she came out, turning the light off. She walked over to the brothers, tossing her jacket and jeans on the foot of the bed. He motioned for her to come over. Sarah walked over and allowed her father to pull her onto his right knee, wrapping her left arm around his neck.

"Sam just told me he's been feeling hatred and rage inside of him the past couple of weeks. What about you? Been feeling like that at all?" he asked of her.

Sarah thought on it and shook her head. "No, nothing. Just lots and lots of confusion. And fear."

"You sure?" Dean made sure.

"Yeah, I mean, I hate the demon and I'm not fond of my other family right now," she shrugged. "But I don't linger on it that much."

Dean kissed the top of her head and hugged her to him.

Sarah looked over, behind her father and looked at the railing that divided the eating and sleeping area. "Hey Dad, you know what those things on the railing look like?" she pointed over at the red and white spheres that decorated the railing.

Dean twisted around to look for himself and turned back, smiling, "What?"

Sarah smiled too, "Pokeballs."

He laughed and gave his daughter a tight squeeze, "I love you, kid," he told her.

Sam interrupted their father/daughter moment, "Dean, the yellow-eyed demon, you know he has plans for Sarah and me. We both know that he's turned other children into killers before too."

"Boy, you know how to kill a moment, don't cha?" Dean told him.

"Dean," he said.

Look, no one can control you but you."

"Sure doesn't seem like that, Dean. It feels like no matter what I do, slowly but surely…I'm just becoming…"

Dean shrugged, holding his hands out to the sides, "What?"

Sam shrugged, looking around with his eyes, "Who I'm meant to be."

Dean dropped his head and stood up to sit Sarah on the bed where he was sitting, walking back around the bed.

"You said it yourself, Dean," he reminded him, "I gotta face up to who I am."

Dean had started going through his bag. He lifted his head to hold his arms out again, "I didn't mean this."

"But it's still true," Sam stood up, straight. "You know that." He walked around the bed Sarah was sitting on, towards his brother. "Dad knew that too. About both of us. That's why he told you that if it ever came to this…"

"Shut up, Sam," Dean told him, frustrated he was bringing this up in front of Sarah again, and while sober this time.

There was a moment of silence before Sam said as he stared at him, "Dean, you promised him."

Sarah lifted her head, looking between her uncle and father, "You _promised_ Grandpa you would kill me?"

Dean dropped his head again, feeling the most ashamed he had ever felt. Finally, he lifted his head to look over at her. "Only if I couldn't save you, Baby Girl and _I will_ save you." Dean looked back at Sam. "Both of you."

Sam shook his head, "You can't save both of us and you promised me."

"No," he told him, plain and simple. "Listen to me. We're gonna figure this out, okay?" Dean shrugged, "I mean, there's gotta be a way, right?"

"Yeah, there is," Sam just stared at him and looked down at Dean's duffel bag to pull out a black handgun, pushing it against Dean's chest. "I don't want to hurt anyone else."

Dean looked down at it then back up at his brother. He couldn't believe how his brother was acting. Sarah, on the other hand, was wondering why Sam was doing it. Something suddenly felt weird and uneasy to her about her uncle and she realized that this couldn't have been Sam. Either that or it was just her feelings towards her uncle that was just making her want to think this wasn't him.

"I don't want to hurt you, or Sarah," Sam finished.

Dean looked down then back at him, again, raising his eye brows, "You won't. Whatever this is, you can fight it."

"No, I can't," Sam shook his head. "Not forever." He shifted his feet still holding the gun to Dean's chest, "Here, you gotta do it." When Dean didn't move, Sam forcefully shoved it into his right hand. Dean just stared at him, holding the gun in the same position Sam had placed as Sam breathed in and out, heavily.

No one said anything for a moment until Dean broke the silence, "You know I tried so hard to keep you and Sarah safe."

Sam stared at the ground like he might start crying any second now. "I know," he said, his voice a little shaky.

Sarah finally stood up, on the bed and walked over to take the gun from her father's hand, shaking her head at him and then at Sam. "There's got to be another way, Uncle Sammy," she told her uncle and sniffed in a lot of air, trying to keep herself from crying.

Sam shook his head at her. "There's not, Peanut," he said and tried to reach for the gun but Sarah held it away from his reach. "Give me the gun, please."

"No," she said. "No one's shooting anyone."

"Give me the gun, Sarah," he repeated with more sternness in his voice.

"No, she's not, Sam. I'd rather die than have to shoot anyone of you," Dean told him and walked away, around Sam.

Sam stared ahead, "No, you'll live," and looked over at his niece who was backing away now. He grabbed the front of her blue, _Pokémon_ shirt and forcefully pulled Sarah towards him, grabbing the gun from her hand before shoving Sarah back onto the bed where she fell off the side. Dean couldn't believe what he just saw but before he could say anything, Sam told him, "You'll live to regret this," and hit him in the head with the handle of the gun and stormed out of the room.

Dean was knocked to the ground, onto his stomach, out cold.

Sarah sat up, rubbing the back of her head as the door shut. She looked around for her father or uncle but not one of them was in sight. Quickly getting to her feet, Sarah moved around the bed and saw her father lying there, not moving.

"Dad," she said and hurried to his right side, kneeling beside him. "Dad. Please, wake up, Dad." Sarah looked around, trying to figure out what to do. Her uncle was gone and it was just her and Dean. She looked back down at her father and tried to flip him over, onto his back, struggling, until she was finally able to do it. Sarah then placed her right ear to his chest and listened for a heartbeat.

Once she found one, Sarah checked her father's head for any bleeding, finding none. Sarah sat back, onto her legs, biting her lower lip. If she called 911, then the authorities would be able to find him and try to lock him away. On the other hand, Dean may need serious medical help. She tried to wake him some more but still wasn't having any luck, so she started searching him for his phone, finding it in his right, jeans pocket.

Sarah went into her father's contacts and searched for the first person she knew, stopping at Bobby's name. Hitting the call button, she held it up to her ear. It rang for half a minute before going to voicemail. Sarah hung up and redialed, repeating the process a few times before Bobby eventually came on the other line.

"Hello?" he said.

Sarah started talking at a fast pace where Bobby couldn't understand a word she was saying. "Slow down, is this Sarah?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, trying to stay calm but was finding it difficult. "Uncle Sam knocked out Dad. Now he's gone and I can't get Dad to wake up. I checked for a pulse and for any head wound so what should I do now?"

Bobby could tell the kid would start hyperventilating by the sound of her breathing. "Okay, calm down there, youngin'. Where are you?"

Sarah took a deep breath before she told him.

"Keep yer dad warm and I will be there as soon as I can, okay?"

She wiped her eyes on her right arm. "Okay, Uncle Bobby," she nodded.

"I know you'll want to but you cannot put a pillow under his head. Just keep him still until I get there," he warned her.

"Is it bad then that I turned him over, onto his back?" she asked, worried now.

Bobby didn't answer right away but when he did, all he said was, "Your dad's gonna be fine, Sarah. He's a tough man."

When both of them hung up, Sarah dropped the cellphone on the floor, beside her and stood up to yank the comforter off Sam's bed and covered her father with it. "Everything's gonna be all right, Dad. Uncle Bobby's on his way. Please, hang in there." She then lied down beside him.

Sarah tried to fight the drowsiness she had started feeling once she was lying down but was finding it hard. She had to stay awake in case something happened she needed to be awake for. In the end though, sleep overcame her as she held onto her father's left upper, arm.


	70. Chapter 69

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 69

Sarah awoke five hours later to someone banging on the door. She slowly lifted her head, looking around, groggily. Dean was still unconscious, beside her. Standing up, Sarah made her way over to the door as she rubbed at her left eye and opened the door. She looked up to see Bobby standing there.

"Hey kiddo, yer Dad still out?" he asked her.

Sarah moved to the side to let the old hunter in and led him over to where her father was still lying on the floor, "Yeah. What should we do, Uncle Bobby?"

Bobby kneeled beside Dean and tried to wake him up. After doing that for five minutes with Sarah joining in, Dean finally stirred.

"What's going on?" Dean asked, confused and groggily, himself.

Bobby and Sarah helped the young man sit up.

"How do you feel, son?" Bobby asked him.

"My head hurts," he admitted. "How did you get here, Bobby?"

"Sarah called me last night, told me what happened."

Dean was holding his head where Sam had hit him. "Where's Sam?" he asked.

"Uncle Sam left right after he hit you," Sarah explained.

"Do you guys think Sam was possessed?" asked Bobby.

"I never saw any black eyes but it has to be. Uncle Sam wouldn't do something like this, or ki…" Dean quickly motioned for Sarah to hush when Bobby wasn't looking. "I mean, never mind."

Dean tried to stand up, which Bobby helped him. "We gotta find that kid," he stated as if it were a fact.

"Dean, take it easy, you were unconscious just now after being knocked in the head." Bobby caught him before he fell back.

"I'm fine," he said.

Dean asked the manager if he had seen Sam leave, and after paying him the rest of the cash he had on him, used the manager's computer to find Sam, getting a strange look from Sarah when Dean mentioned Sam sneaking out to go to a Justin Timberlake concert.

Once Sam was located, Dean, Sarah, and Bobby headed to Duluth, Minnesota since Sam had taken the Impala. Bobby pulled up to a bar, later that night and Dean jumped out. Sarah was about to do the same but Dean stopped her when he reached back in the backseat for his duffel bag and told Bobby to go ahead and take Sarah back to his place. If something happened and Dean did have to kill Sam, he didn't want Sarah around to see it.

Sarah wanted to protest but kept quiet, knowing she had to follow orders. After making sure, Bobby told Dean to be careful and drove off. Sarah climbed over, into the front seat.

"I don't see why we couldn't have gone in there to help," Sarah sulked in her seat, her arms folded tightly as she stared out the window.

"Your daddy just wants to do it alone. It is his brother in there," explained Bobby as he focused on the road.

"And my uncle," Sarah added.

"It's more complicated than that, Sarah," he told her. "Since your daddy was a kid, he was drilled to watch out for yer uncle and feels like this is something he should do on his own. He doesn't mean to leave you out of it but it would be better if you weren't there. There may even be things said that are just between brothers. Isn't there things between you and your daddy, Sam doesn't know?"

Sarah didn't respond. Yes, there were things her and Dean kept between them, mostly feelings. She knew Bobby was right but didn't want to admit it.

Since she was still tired from the night before, sleep had overcome her again. Instead of waking her up when he pulled into his salvage yard, Bobby went around to Sarah's side and lifted her up, onto his right side, reaching back, behind the seat for her duffel bag and carried her inside and up to the guest room. He remembered carrying a sleeping Sam in there when he was just a kid. Laying her down on the bed, Bobby, very carefully, removed her jacket and tennis shoes, seeing how messed they were.

Just about when Bobby was going to lie down in his own bed, his house phone rang. _Balls_, he thought and headed downstairs to answer it. Just when he got to the top of the stairs, it suddenly stopped ringing. Shrugging it off that it might have been a wrong number, Bobby turned around to head back to his room and there was a knock on the front door. Walking down the stairs, he went over to answer it.

It was Sam.

Bobby pretended to be happy to see the young man, "Sam."

"Hey, Bobby," Sam smiled back.

"It's been a while."

Sam chuckled to himself.

Bobby moved to the side and invited Sam in, closing the door behind him. Bobby went to grab a couple beers, bringing them back to Sam. They toasted to John and each took a swig. Unknown to Sam, his beer had holy water in it which burned the inside of his mouth, making him choke and fall onto the floor.

Bobby punched Sam out, cold.

All the commotion had brought Sarah downstairs, hurrying into the room to find Bobby tying her uncle to a chair. "What's going on?" she asked but answered her own question when she looked up at the ceiling above Sam where the devil's trap still was, from the exorcism with Meg. "Uncle Sam is possessed?"

"Yup," Bobby replied, tightening the binds around Sam's left arm.

"Well, what are we waiting for? I memorized the exorcism Sam taught me."

Bobby stood up. "Your dad's on his way here. He doesn't want anyone doing anything until he gets here."

Sarah looked over at her uncle's unconscious form, his head hunched over, limply. She was glad that it wasn't Sam who had killed that guy after all.

Once Dean was there and laid out a plan, he slapped his brother awake. "Hey."

Sam snapped awake, grunting as Dean looked back at his daughter, who was holding her super soaker, and nodded. Dean looked up at the devil's trap, making Sam look up as well to distract him from Sarah pumping up the water gun.

Sam panted and smirked over at his brother. "Dean," he said. "Back from the dead."

Sarah looked up at her father, confused why Sam had said that. She kept quiet though, staying focused.

"Getting to be a regular thing for you, isn't it?" Sam continued. "Like a cockroach."

"You're the cockroach, you demonic ass," Sarah glared over at him, angrily. "Shut up before I sock you the face."

"Careful now, wouldn't wanna bruise this fine packaging."

Dean nodded at him once, "Don't worry. This isn't gonna hurt Sam much." He moved a little to let Sarah take his place, holding up her super soaker to point it at him and sprayed it.

Sam cried out as holy water burned his skin.

"You, on the other hand…" Dean smirked when Sarah stopped.

Sam sat there, groaning in pain.

"Feel like talking now?" he raised his voice.

"Sam's still my meat puppet," Sam sneered at the ground and glared up at him. "I'll make him bite off his own tongue."

"No," Dean shook his head, "You won't be in there long enough. "Sarah."

Sarah, keeping a firm grip on the super soaker, started speaking in Latin.

As Sam struggled at the words, Dean said, "See, whatever bitch-boy master plan you demons are cooking up…"

Sam cried out.

"…you're not getting Sam. Or Sarah."

Sam raised his head towards the ceiling, panting hard.

"You understand me?" he demanded, leaning over in Sam's face. "Because I'm gonna kill every one of you first."

Sam struggled some more against Sarah's exorcism before his gasps turned into laughs, making her stop and look over at her father.

He panted, breathlessly with his head down before lifting it to laugh at Dean, "You really think that's what this thing is about? The master plan?" Sam panted some more. "I don't give a rat's ass about the master plan."

Dean exchanged looks with Bobby, who was standing back overseeing everything, and then looked down at Sarah, who then continued where she had left off, exactly.

"Oops," Sam smirked, interrupting the little girl. "Doesn't seem to be working. See, I learned a few new tricks." He put his head down and started speaking in Latin as well. Soon, the fire inside the fireplace shot up, bigger as the house shook and papers started blowing around.

Sarah pumped her super soaker more until she was thrown back to her left, against the wall and landed on the floor, the toy flying out of her hand.

"Sarah," Dean ran to her side, helping her up. "This isn't going as I planned. What's going on, Bobby?"

Bobby hurried behind Sam and noticed a singed in Q on his forearm. "It's a binding link," he yelled over the noise.

Dean and Sarah looked over at him.

"It's like a lock. He's locked himself inside Sam's body."

"What the hell do we do?" Dean yelled back.

"I don't know." Bobby moved away as a cracking noise was heard from above.

Dean was trying to shield Sarah as they watched a crack form in the ceiling, going through a corner of the devil's trap.

Sam cracked his neck, starring over at Dean, "There. That's better." He sent all three of them, flying into different walls and broke his arms free, slowly walking over to Dean, who was struggling on the floor. "You know when people wanna describe the worst possible thing?" Sam kneeled down and grabbed the front of Dean's jacket. "They say it's _like hell_." He socked Dean in the face and grabbed him up, again. "Well, there's a reason for that."

"Hell is like," Sam explained, shaking his right fist and socked him again. "Well, it's like hell. Even for demons." Another punch. "It's a prison made of bone and fresh and blood and fear."

Sam punched him one last time before grabbing onto Dean's head. Blood was gushing from Dean's nose. Sarah was struggling to her feet, a little wobbly from being thrown into the wall twice. She couldn't understand why her abilities weren't coming out as she glared over at the men. When Sam punched her father for the last time, she managed to jump to her feet as a rush of adrenaline rushed up inside of her and sped over to shove Sam off of him, punching him in the face.

"My, little Sarah," Sam smirked up at her. "You've gotten stronger since the last time we seen each other. No wonder my father likes you best."

Sarah had pulled back to hit him again but froze, staring down at her uncle, her mouth open in shock. "Meg?"

"That's right, only it's not Meg anymore. Now it's Sam or to you, Uncle Sam, am I right? I saw your grandpa there, but then again, so do you." He smirked.

She clenched her fist tighter and socked him for a third time, this time drawing blood.

Sam just laughed, "All I had to hold onto was that I would climb out one day." He lifted his head towards her. "And I was gonna torture your precious daddy, and maybe even you."

Sarah could feel some hostility towards her father from the demon, but even more it seemed towards her.

"Ever since you came into the picture my own father pays much more attention to you than he has ever shown me. You're like the favorite of his. In fact, you're more demon than I am."

Sarah loosened her fist that was pulled back once again as she stared at her uncle. "I'm…a…a demon?"

Sam glared up at her, "How do you think you can do all that? It's the demon's blood inside you. You're top dog of all my father's psychic children."

"I have demon blood inside me?"

At that point, Bobby had rushed up and burned a hot, metal stick from the fireplace onto Sam's right arm, burning the singed Q off as Sarah had it pinned on the ground. Black smoke shot out of his mouth towards the ceiling and up through the fireplace. Sam's head dropped back, onto the ground as Sarah just sat there, staring at him, still in shock.

Sam suddenly shot up, into a sitting position and clutched his arm, dropping onto his right elbow. He looked around, confused why his niece was on top of him and his brother was over by the wall, bleeding from the nose. "Did I miss anything?" he asked between the three of them.

Sarah slugged her uncle for that.

"Ow, what was that for?"

She just glared at him and fell onto her back on Sam's left side, holding her hand she had been using. Bobby went over to help Dean up and over to a chair where he got him and Sam ice packs. Sarah sat over on the couch in the other room, thinking about what Meg had told her. So she had demon blood in her? Did Sam have it to? What did all this mean?

Bobby interrupted her thoughts when he came over to hand her a small charm.

"What's this?" she asked as he placed it in her hand.

"It's a charm," he explained. "It'll fend off possession, keeping demons from getting inside ya like it did Sam."

Sarah looked away, at the floor. "What's the point?"

Dean walked in at that point. "Because you're still human, Sarah," he told her.

"Not according to Meg, I'm not," she shrugged. "Now I understand my abilities, my nightmares. I don't know how but I have it. I have demon blood."

"We don't know that for sure, Sarah." Dean walked towards her.

"How else do you explain everything, Dad? I tackled my giant of an uncle off of you and was able to pin him down. I break glass. I send everyone flying when I'm pissed off or when someone's hurting you. I am a monster that the demon wants more than anything." Sarah started crying again. Dean moved even closer and lifted his daughter up, into his arms, letting her cry into his shoulder. "How can a half demon or whatever be saved?"

No one said anything as the men exchanged looks between each other. No one knew what to say. The little girl they loved was pretty much what they hunted…


	71. Chapter 70

**I never done flashbacks before so let me know if I did the transitions right or if there's a better way. I had to do this episode since it introduces the Trickster/Gabriel but I am skipping the next four episodes though, or at least speed-running through them.**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 70

Sam sat on the couch, looking through old books while Sarah laid on hers and Dean's bed, looking through her own books. Dean was sitting over on Sam's bed, eating chili cheese fries and looking through a magazine which Sam noticed.

"You mind not eating those on my bed?" Sam asked of him in an annoyed tone.

"No, I don't mind," he replied, not looking up. After a few moments, Dean asked, "how's the research going?"

"You know how it's going?" Sam looked over at his brother and slammed his book shut. "Slow. You know how it would go a heck of a lot faster? If I had my computer."

Dean nodded at his brother, grinning, "Mm."

"We could be using my PSP but someone had to go and lose it!" Sarah spat over at her uncle.

"I did not lose your PSP, Sarah," Sam told her for the hundredth time.

"Well, I didn't lose it."

Sam returned to the research, not saying anything else until the music Dean was playing on the radio started to break his concentration. "Can you turn that down, please?" he asked of his brother.

"Yeah, absolutely," he replied, not looking up from his magazine and turned the radio up instead.

Sam looked ahead, annoyed still. He looked back over at Dean, "You know what? Maybe, uh… Maybe you should just go somewhere for a while, huh?"

Dean looked up at him, again and shut off the radio. "Hey, I'd love to. That's a great idea. Unfortunately, my car's all screwed to hell."

"Dean, I told you too, I had nothing to do…"

There was a knock on the door.

The Winchesters looked over in that direction. Sam looked between his brother and the door, his leg bouncing up and down before he stood up to answer it, letting Bobby in, after looking through the peephole.

"Hey, Bobby," he greeted, quietly.

"Boys, Sar…" Bobby got the wind knocked out of him when Sarah dashed over and hugged his legs.

"Hey, Bobby," Dean called, standing up from the bed.

"It's good to see you again so soon," he told them, touching his hand to the top of Sarah's head.

Sam playfully, hit him on the shoulder. "Yeah, thanks for coming," he told him, walking towards Dean. "Come on in."

"Thank God you're here," Dean said as Bobby was looking around the room and exchanged a friendly handshake with him.

"So, um," Bobby shrugged, sliding his hands into his jeans pockets, "What didn't you wanna talk to me on the phone about?"

"It's this job we're working. We…" Sam explained and chuckled. "We weren't sure you'd believe us."

Bobby chuckled too, "Well, I can believe a lot."

"No, yeah, yeah. I know," he said. "It's just, we've never seen anything like it."

"Not even close," Dean added.

"And we thought we could use some fresh eyes," Sam finished.

"Well, why don't you begin at the beginning?" shrugged Bobby.

"Yeah, um," Sam looked back for something to sit down on, "all right, please," he offered Bobby Sarah and Dean's bed to sit on while he pulled up a chair. "So…it all started when we caught wind of an orbit."

Bobby picked up an old food tray, tossing it to the other side of the bed before sitting down.

"See, a professor took a nosedive from a fourth-story window. Only there's a campus legend that the building's haunted. So we pretexted as reporters from the local paper."

A few days before:

Sam and Sarah were sitting at a table with a couple college students, interviewing them about a professor's death, inside a bar while Sam recorded it.

"Yeah, we both had the professor for Ethics and Morality," the young man was explaining.

"Is there any reason you'd think why he would commit suicide?" Sarah asked him.

"Who knows," the young woman replied. "He was tenured, wife and kids, his book was, like, a really big deal."

Sam nodded at her.

"Then again," she continued. "Who's to say it was suicide?"

"Jen, come on," the young man told her, smiling.

"Well, what else could it be?" Sam asked, looking between the students.

"Well, you know about Crawford Hall, right?" the young woman asked him and Sarah.

Sam shifted in his seat, sharing a look with his niece, "No, we don't actually."

"It's a bunch of crap," the young man said, "total urban legend."

"Yeah? Well, Heather's mom went to school here and she knew the girl," the young woman argued with him.

"What girl?" asked Sarah, shifting onto her left foot.

"Like thirty years ago, this girl was having an affair with some professor," she explained. "He broke it off. She jumped out the window and killed herself."

"Uh, wow. Can you say, major drama queen?" Sarah commented, sitting back from where she was leaning on her arms. "When a guy dumps you, you just dig your key into the side of his car, carve your name into his seats, take a bat to each headlight, and slash a whole in all four tires."

"Isn't that when a guy cheats on you?" the young woman told her.

Sarah leaned on her right elbow, "Ah, a Carrie Underwood fan." She shrugged, "Same diff."

"Have you heard her new album yet?"

"Hell yes, I did," Sarah said, leaning closer to the young woman now. "_Just a Dream_ is amazing. The lyrics can just make you want to cry, doesn't it?"

"I know, and…"

Sam stepped in the middle of the conversation, "Can we get back to the girl who killed herself? Please?"

Sarah leaned back in her chair, clearing her throat. "Right, uh so this girl jumps out a window?" she changed the subject back to the urban legend.

"Right," she replied.

"You know her name?" asked Sam.

She shook her head, "No, but they say she jumped from room 6-6-9. Get it? You turn the nine upside down."

Sam nodded but Sarah seemed like she was questioning it.

"It would be creepier if the number _was _6-6-6," she stated. "But, anyway, continue."

The young man chuckled to himself as the young woman continued, stealing a glance at him. "So now she haunts the building. And anyone who sees her, they don't live to tell the tale," she shook her head.

"Well, if no one lives to tell the tale, then how does the story get told?" he asked.

"Curtis, shut up," she told him.

"Guy's got a point there," Sarah agreed.

"You know what," Sam interrupted, "Uh, thanks a lot, guys. Excuse us." He stood up and walked away with Sarah quickly following after him. They went in search of Dean who was over at the bar, chugging down shots of some purplish-looking alcoholic drinks.

"Dean, what are you…? What are you drinking?" Sam asked, standing next to him.

Dean burped and shrugged, "I don't know, man. I think they're called purple nurples." He laughed. It was very apparent he was drunk by the way he sounded.

Sarah just rolled her eyes at her father.

"Well, listen," Sam told him. "I think we should go check out the professor's office."

"Oh, no, no, no. I can't right now," Dean told him. "I've got a feisty, little wildcat on the hook. I'm about to…" he made a sound like a bee. "…reel her in."

Sam and Sarah looked over at the girl Dean was referring to as Dean looked back.

"I'll introduce you," he told them.

"Dean…" Sam tried to protest.

But Dean was already calling her name, who turned around. "Starla, hey. These are my shuttle co-pilots, Major Tom and Jerry. Major Tom, Jerry, Starla," he introduced them.

"Mm," she smiled at Sam and hugged Dean around the neck, from behind. "Enchante." Starla held a shot glass out towards him.

Sam just smiled.

"We should really get going," Sarah pointed out with her arms folded across her chest and gave Starla a look that said, _try anything with my dad and you're dead_ who didn't seem to notice. When Starla started gagging, Sarah raised her eye brows at her.

"Sorry," she apologized, smiling as she removed her hand from her mouth. "Just trying to keep my liquor down."

Her and Dean laughed. "Yeah, good job," he told her and turned back to Sam. "Hey, good news. She's got a sister." Dean grinned at him.

Sam raised both of his eye brows, trying to force a smile as Starla wrapped her arm around Dean's neck again.

Back in the present:

"Woah, woah, woah, woah," Dean interrupted Sam. "Hold on a minute."

Sam replied, "What?" looking between him and Bobby.

"Come on, dude. That's not how it happened."

"Uh, yeah it was, Dad. You just don't remember since you were drunk at the time," Sarah told him, sitting across from him, next to Bobby.

"I remember things, Sarah and I don't say things like, "feisty, little wildcat" and her name wasn't Starla," he said, looking over at his brother.

She crossed her arms across her chest, "Then what was it?"

Dean thought on it before he said, "I don't know."

"Exactly," she said.

"So what did happen, Dean?" Sam asked, sarcastically.

Dean told his version of the story which was a far exaggerated version from the truth, which ending with Sam sounding like he didn't speak any English.

"Right," Sarah interrupted this time. "That's how it really happened."

Dean shrugged.

"I don't sound like that, Dean," Sam spat at him.

"That's what you sound like to me," he said.

"Okay," Bobby jumped in, looking between the three of them. "What's going on with the three of you?"

Sam rolled his eyes at the ceiling, "Nothing. It's nothing."

"Come on. Now, you're all bickering like an old married couple," he told them.

"No," Dean argued. "See, married couples can get divorced." He stood up to walk over to the kitchen area. "We're more like Siamese triplets."

"It's _conjoined_ triplets," Sam corrected him as Dean walked by him.

"And technically, I _can _divorce from you, Dad," Sarah added.

Dean looked back at Bobby as he was walking, "See what I mean?"

Bobby stared down at the floor, trying to make sense of everything going on.

"Look, it…" Sam tried to explain. "We've just been on the road for too long. Tight quarters, that's all. Don't worry about it."

"Okay," he shook his head.

Sam continued telling him about the job they were on. "So, anyway, we figured it might be a haunting…so we went to check out the scene of the crime."

Later, that same night (a few nights ago):

"So, how long you been working here?" Sam was asking the janitor.

"I've been mopping these floors for six years," he replied, unlocking the door to the professor's office and turned on the light. "There you go, guys."

The Winchesters followed him inside the office as Sam turned on the EMF reader.

"What the heck's that for?" the janitor asked him.

"Just finding wires in the walls," he shrugged.

The janitor crossed his arms, leaning up against the wall frame, "Ah, well… Not sure why you're wiring up this office," he said, looking around the room. "Not gonna do the professor much good."

"Why's that?" Sarah asked him.

"He's dead," he plainly stated.

"Oh, that's terrible. How did he die?"

The janitor stood up, straight again and pointed over at a window behind the large desk in the center of the room, "He went out that window right there."

Sam and Dean were wandering around the room.

"Yeah?" asked Sam. "Were you working that night?"

"I'm the one who found him," he nodded over at Sam.

Sarah asked him, "What did you think happened?"

The janitor shrugged, "I don't know." He laughed.

Sam asked, "What?"

"He wasn't alone."

Dean walked up behind Sarah, his cheeks stuffed with candy like a chipmunk's. "Who was he with," he asked.

Sarah side-stepped away from her father, wiping her hand along the top of her hair from where she felt his saliva, as she stared up at him.

"He was with a young lady," the janitor explained and shrugged, "I told the cops about her, but, uh, I guess they never found her."

"You saw this girl go in, huh?" asked Sam. "But did you ever see her come out?" He rolled his eyes when he saw Dean holding the bowl of candy out of Sarah's reach as she tried to grab one, playing around with her.

The janitor raised an eye brow at the two of them as he replied, "Now that you mention it, no."

"You ever see her…" Sam looked back at his brother and niece. "Will you two knock it off?"

Sarah was now jumping for the bowl in Dean's hand as he held it higher and higher. She stopped when Sam said something. Even though they were each in uniform, the two of them weren't really playing their parts. "I will when, Butch here shares the candy."

Sam gave his niece a look that told her to knock it off and Sarah looked away, crossing her arms. Dean, smiling like a chipmunk, held the bowl beside her, finally offering her one. She took one, thanking him.

Sam looked back at the janitor, "Sorry for my partners. You ever see the girl around before?"

"Not her," he said.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, chewing.

"I don't mean to cast aspersions on a dead guy but, uh, Mr. Morality here? He brought a lot of girls up here. Got more ass than a toilet seat."

Dean laughed at that while Sarah raised her right eye brow. "Gross," she said while chewing the one piece of candy on the left side of her mouth.

"One more thing," Sam said, "Uh, this building, it only has four stories, right?"

The janitor nodded, "Yeah."

"So there wouldn't be a room 6-6-9?"

He shook his head, this time as he shrugged, "Of course not. Why do you ask?"

"Ah," Sam shook his head as well, "Just curious. Thanks."

The Winchesters headed back to their motel room they were staying in. "Well, no traces of EMF, that's for sure," Sam said as they walked inside, turning on the light.

Dean placed their metal suitcase in the chair next to the one Sam sat down in, "And that room 6-6-9's a load of crap," he added.

Sarah sat in the chair, opposite the suitcase, on her heels as she leaned her elbows on the table as she turned on her PSP.

"So, what do you think, the professor's just a jumper?" Sam asked, removing his jacket "Legend's just a legend?"

Dean was grabbing two beers out of the fridge and placed one on the table for Sam. "I don't know." He looked over at his daughter. "Dude, we're on a job. Turn it off."

Sarah switched it off, dropping it onto the table, folding her arms on the table still, placing her chin inside them.

"Anyway. The girl that the janitor described, that's pretty weird," Dean leaned against the counter, twisting the cap off.

Sam agreed.

"Why don't we see if the building's got any history? Maybe a girl did die there once," Sarah shrugged, not lifting her head.

"Right." Sam grabbed his computer as Dean walked away, drinking his beer and opened it up to find a porn site frozen on the screen. "Dude, were you on my computer?" he called over to Dean.

Dean came back to look at him, "No," he replied.

"Oh, really?" Sam stared back at him. "Because it's frozen now on, uh, ."

Dean looked at the ground, remembering now and walked back into the bathroom.

"Dean…" Sam tried to yell after him and placed his right elbow on the table, looking at the floor. "Would you just… Don't touch my stuff anymore, okay?"

"Oh yeah, Uncle Sam," Sarah told her uncle, lifting her head at him. "That's telling him."

"You hush, Peanut."

Dean had stuck his head out the bathroom. "Why don't you control your OCD?" he asked Sam.

Back in the present:

"But did you dig up anything about the building?" Bobby asked, in front of one of the windows and walked over to them. "Or on the suicidal coed?"

Sam was standing in front of the coffee table. He shook his head at the floor, rubbing his neck, "No. History's clean."

"Well, then it's not a haunting," he said, stopping to look back at them.

Dean stopped in front of him, "Maybe not. To tell the truth, we're not really sure. Not even Sarah and she's usually the one to figure it out when we can't."

Bobby stared at him, shrugging his shoulders, "What do you mean you're not sure?"

Sam had been pacing around the room. He stopped to look over at the older hunter, "Well, it's weird."

"What's weird?" he asked.

"This part you defiantly won't believe," Sarah spoke up, beside him, her hands shoved into her sky blue shorts pockets. "It's weird even for us," and this time Sarah told Bobby the story.


	72. Chapter 71

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 71

"Aliens?" Bobby questioned once Sarah told him.

"Yeah," Sam agreed.

Bobby was pacing the floor, staring at it. "Aliens?" he repeated, finding it hard to believe.

Dean agreed as well, his arms folded.

Bobby stopped pacing and looked over at the Winchesters. "Look, even if they are real, they sure ain't coming to earth, swiping people."

"Hey, believe me, we know," he unfolded his arms.

"My whole life, I've never found evidence of an honest-to-God abduction." Bobby shrugged, "It's all just cranks and pranks."

Something clicked on, inside Sarah's head. "Wait a minute…pranks…" Sarah rushed over to hers and Dean's bed, jumping on it and started skimming through her book on Pagan lore.

"What is it, Baby Girl?" Dean asked her.

"Give me a minute. Finish telling Uncle Bobby what we found out so far," she waved him off, not lifting her eyes from her book. So Sam told Bobby about talking to the guy.

A couple days after the professor's jump:

The Winchesters sat in the same bar as before, talking to the young man, Curtis who was downing shot after shot, looking scarred for life.

"Hey, you gotta give those purple nurples a shot," Dean smiled at him. "Phew."

Curtis just glared at him.

Sam cleared his throat to get Curtis' attention as Sarah kicked her father under the table, who gave her a hard glare. "So what happened, Curtis?" he asked him.

Curtis shrugged up where Sam was standing, his hands in his jacket pockets, "You won't believe me. Nobody does."

"We're not nobody," Sarah told him. "Just tell us what you think you saw."

He pointed at them, "I do not want this in the papers."

"Off the record then," Dean assured him.

Curtis looked over at Dean and slowly set his shot glass down, staring at it. "I, uh…I blacked out and…and I lost track of time and when I woke up, I don't know where I was."

Sam asked, leaning against another table, "Then what?"

Curtis was staring at his glass still, "They did tests on me. And um…." He took another drink, downing that one. Curtis set the glass down and folded his arms on the table. "They, um….They probed me."

Sam looked away, scratching the back of his head while Sarah asked, "They probed you for answers."

"No, they probed me…like probed me," he told her.

Sarah started thinking about alien movies she'd seen. "You mean they stuck you with…"

"Yeah, they probed me. I mean, again, and again, and again, and…" Curtis took another drink, downing that one as well as Sarah looked back at her father, who shrugged.

Sam looked like he wanted to laugh but held it in.

He set the glass down. "And again, and again, and again, and one more time."

Dean stared at him, horrified, "Yikes."

"Wow," Sarah added.

"And that's not even the worse of it."

"How can it get any worse?" she asked him.

Dean grinned, jokingly, "Some alien made you his bitch," raising his eye brows.

Curtis stared at him and Dean exchanged looks with Sam. After a moment, he said, "They….They made me….slow dance."

Sam and Dean were speechless but Sarah had lost it. She started snickering, holding her sides until Curtis glared over at her and sat up, straight, again. "I mean…that's awful, Curtis. I wish there was something we could do," she told him, trying to keep a straight face but found herself losing the battle.

Back in the present:

"You guys are exaggerating again, huh?" Bobby told them, turning around to face them.

"No," all three answered. Sarah didn't even look up from her book.

He shrugged, "Then this frat boy is just nuts."

"We're not so sure," Dean admitted from the arm of the couch.

The day after they talked with Curtis:

"So you and this Curtis guy," Sam asked a student, "you're in the same house?"

He nodded, "Yeah."

"You heard what happened to him, right?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, he said it was aliens," the student replied, looking between them, "but, you know, whatever."

Sam shifted on his feet, his hands in his jacket pockets again, "Look, man, I know this has to be so hard."

He shook his head, "Um, not so much," he said, starting to feel awkward.

"But I want you to know…." Sam nodded closer to the student. "I'm here for you."

The student nodded, trying to look at the ground.

"You brave little soldier. I acknowledge your pain."

He was looking over at Dean and Sarah as if to ask, _what the heck is this guy's problem?_

Sam teared up, "Come here," and wrapped the student into a big hug. Dean started to say something but decided not to as Sam continued. "Too precious for this world," he said.

Sarah moved to her father's other side, scratching the back of her head. "I don't know this guy. Never seen him in all my life," she tried to assure the student who looked very uncomfortable.

In the present again:

"I never said that," Sam interrupted his brother.

"You're always saying pansy stuff like that," Dean shrugged.

Bobby was looking between them, realizing something was up as Dean continued.

Back on that day:

Sam finally let go of the student, assuring he was fine and stated Curtis had it coming, that he had put their house through hell that semester as their pledge master. Afterwards, the Winchesters headed back to their motel room again.

"Still don't make a lick of sense," Dean stated as they walked in the door and removed his jacket, "but hey, at least there's one connection."

Sam asked, "Between what?"

"Victims," he replied and tossed his jacket over on his bed. "The professor and the frat guy." Dean flopped down in an arm chair Sarah was leaning against, on her arms. He laughed, "They're both dicks."

Sam scoffed from over by the beds, "That's a connection?"

"You got anything better to go on, I'd like to hear it," he shrugged and asked Sarah if she could grab him a beer from the fridge. Sarah nodded and went over to the fridge. Dean stretched out in the chair. "One good thing about being a dad: having your own, personal butler."

Sarah was grabbing a beer from inside the fridge, "I heard that, Dad." She closed the fridge door and took the beer over to her father, giving him a hard look.

Dean wrapped his arm around her, holding a long kiss on her left cheek. "You know I love you," he grinned at her.

"Oh sure," she told him, sarcastically, "want me to fetch your slippers, pipe, and newspaper for you too?"

Sam was looking through his bag and around the room. "Where's my laptop?" he asked them.

"I don't know," Dean told him, looking away from him.

"I haven't seen it," Sarah shrugged.

Dean started talking about the case again as Sam continued searching. "Think about it. A philandering professor gets a dead girl," he said. "A pledge master gets hazed."

"What's philandering mean?" Sarah asked, her head resting on her father's right shoulder now.

"Man who cheats on his wife," Dean explained.

"That sounds like a dick to me," she agreed.

"I left it in here." Sam was still looking for his laptop.

"Well, you obviously didn't," Dean told him. "I mean, these punishments, they're almost poetic. Actually, it would be more like a limerick, but still…"

Sam walked over to him and Sarah, "Okay, hilarious, ha ha. Where'd you hide it?"

"What, your computer?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sam replied, "Where'd you hide it?"

"Why would I take your computer? Sarah uses it, why don't you ask her?"

Sarah stood up, fast at that point, looking between the brothers, "I didn't take it."

"Someone took it," Sam shrugged, "No one else could have. We keep the door locked. We never let any maids in."

Dean grinned up at him, "Looks like you lost it, Poindexter."

Sam didn't say anything as he stared down at his brother, who kept on grinning. "Dude, you know something? I put up with a lot from you. Both of you, actually.

"What are ya talking about?" Dean smirked over at his daughter, "We're a joy to be around. Huh, Baby Girl?"

"Yup," she smiled back at him.

"Yeah?" said Sam, and held his hand out towards the kitchen area. "Your dirty socks in the sink, Dean. You Sarah, leaving your toys lying around." Sam looked back at Dean, "Your food in the fridge."

"What's wrong with my food?" Dean asked, offended.

"It's not food, anymore, Dean," he yelled at him. "It's Darwinism."

Dean looked away from his brother, muttering, "I like it."

Sarah jumped in, "It's both ways, Uncle Sam. I tried to put up with your quirks too."

Sam scoffed, "Oh, my quirks? Like what?"

"Being the kill joy and Mr. Clean all the time, expecting everything to be perfectly placed," she told him. "Dad's more fun than you are, most of the time."

"Someone has to be the responsible adult around here," Sam argued.

"Yeah, well, there's such thing as too responsible, Uncle Sam," Sarah argued back.

Sam just scoffed, walking away.

Dean asked, "You two done?" when no one said anything else.

He turned back to his brother and niece, walking towards them again. "How would you feel if I screwed with the Impala, Dean?"

"It'll be the last thing you ever did," Dean told him, frankly.

"How would you feel, Sarah, if I took your PSP without asking?"

I'd repeat how we met," she told him, frankly mimicking her father's tone. "You know I ask every time to use your computer, anyway."

Present day:

"Did any of you take his computer?" Bobby asked of Dean and Sarah, looking between them. Sam and Dean were sitting at the table, this time.

"Serves him right," said Dean, holding his beer towards him, "but I didn't."

Bobby looked over at Sarah who was lying on her bed, "Did you, Sarah?"

"Huh?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Did you take Sam's computer?" he repeated.

"No, but he lost my PSP after I gladly let him borrow it so he could use the internet I never knew I had," she glared over at her uncle.

"For the last time, I did not lose your PSP," Sam repeated. "I gave it right back when I was done."

Sarah stood up on all fours, "And I set it on the nightstand so you obviously took it back and lost it."

"I didn't touch it, Sarah," he argued. "You must have lost it."

"In all the time I had it, I have never lost my PSP," she argued in returned.

"Okay," Bobby broke up the argument, "that's enough, both of you. Why don't you just tell me what happened next?"

Sarah was climbing off the bed, "Don't have to." She grabbed the book up and walked over to the table. "I know what we're dealing with." Sarah slammed the book down, open to a page about tricksters.

Bobby looked down at it. "That'll be my guess."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks between each other.

"I'm surprised at you three," he continued. "Sam, first off, neither Dean or Sarah stole your computer."

Sam tried to protect as Sarah grinned over at him.

"Told ya," she told her uncle.

"And Sarah," Bobby turned to her after he shushed them both. "Sam did not lose your PSP."

"Yeah," Sam told his niece as she folded her arms.

"Shut up," Sarah told him, bitterly.

"You three bothered to pull your heads out of your asses, yes I'm talking to you as well, Sarah," Bobby said, making Sarah look up at him in surprise that he would say that to her. "It would have been pretty clear."

Dean yanked the book towards him, "A trickster?" he read and sat back. "That's what I thought."

"No you didn't, Dad," said Sarah. "You were clueless as we were."

"I gotta tell you," Bobby looked between the Winchesters, "you three were the biggest clue."  
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"These things create chaos and mischief as easy as breathing," he explained. "And it's got you so turned around and at each other's throats, you can't even think straight."

"The laptop," Sam realized.

"My PSP," Sarah realized.

"It knows you're onto him," Bobby told them. "And it's been playing you like fiddles."

Dean read some more. "So it's a demigod?"

"That's right," he nodded. "There's Loki in Scandinavia. There's Anansi in West Arica. Dozens of them."

"Says here they create things as they please, playing pranks on those deserving of them," Dean continued reading.

Sarah was in thought at the moment. "Tricksters can also move around without being noticed too," she added.

Dean leaned on the table after pulling it all together in his head, towards her, "And who do we know that's been at ground zero this whole time?"

Sarah looked up at him and over at Sam, knowing exactly who the trickster was. So they went to search the janitor's locker. Dean and Sarah distracted him while Sam did the searching, finding a Weekly World News magazine, proving the janitor was the trickster.

After staging a fake fight, Sam headed back to Bobby while Dean and Sarah stayed there, walking back and forth, in front of the building until nightfall. The two of them then headed inside again. Seeing how the trickster wasn't in the employee locker area, they hurried upstairs, hearing music coming from the theater department.

Dean opened the door to find a couple of women and something yellow moving on the bed as they walked in. He quickly covered Sarah's eyes as they stepped closer.

"Dad, I can't see," Sarah complained.

"That's the whole point," he told her.

As he led her closer down the steps, Dean could not believe what the yellow thing was. "Oh my God," he said in disbelief.

The yellow thing hopped off the bed and scurried over to the edge of the stage. "Pi ka chu," it said, standing on its hind feet.

Sarah heard it too. "Did I just hear what I think I heard?"

"You bet, kiddo."

Dean turned his head to see the Trickster sitting in one of the seats.

"Come on. Let her see it," he told Dean. "How many other kids could say they met a real live Pikachu?"

"As much as I appreciate the ladies, I don't really want Sarah seeing them," said Dean.

"So you'll let your daughter miss out on an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity just 'cause you don't want her to see a couple ladies lying on a bed?"

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

"Dad, I watch movies way past my age limit, as long as they're not naked it's nothing I haven't seen before," she told her father.

"Fine." Dean removed his hand, reluctantly.

Sarah looked over and her eyes widen in surprise as she stared at her favorite cartoon character, live in the fur. "No way. I gotta be dreaming," she said.

"Nope, it's all real, kiddo," the Trickster smiled between her and the Pikachu.

Dean started staring over at the women before he remembered what they were there for and looked back over at the Trickster, reminding Sarah to do the same.

"They're a peace offering," the Trickster told them. "I know what you three do. I've been around a while, run into your kind before."

Dean shrugged, "Well, then you know that we can't let you just keep hurting people."

The Trickster threw his head back, "Come on. Those people got what was coming to them. Hoisted on their own petards."

"True," Sarah could agree to that.

"But you two and Sam," he continued. "I like you. I do. So treat yourself, as long as you like." Dean and Sarah looked back at the ladies and Pikachu. "Just long enough for me to move on to the next town." The Trickster pulled a candy bar from his front pocket and started to unwrap it. "By the way, Sarah, I think you missed one."

Sarah looked back at the stage, again. Only this time, there was the huge, orange, dragon-like Pokémon she loved even more than Pikachu. Her mouth dropped opened as she stared at it. "Charizard," she said, quietly.

"Now, he's my personal favorite. I can see why you like him so much."

Sarah watched as Charizard flapped its wings once and blew real fire into the air, at the ceiling. But she shook her head and turned back to the Trickster. "There's no way we're letting you escape," she told him.

"I don't wanna hurt you guys," the trickster admitted and shrugged. "And you know that I can."

Dean couldn't help smile. "Look, man, I gotta tell you. I dig your style. All right? I mean…" He looked back at the women and blew out a breath of air. "I do. I mean: And the slow-dancing alien?"

Sarah agreed, "Yeah, right on, dude."

The three of them laughed.

"Another one of my personal favorites," the Trickster laughed.

"Yeah," he said. "But uh, we can't let you go, like Sarah said."

"Too bad," said the Trickster. "Like I said, I like you. Sam was right. You both shouldn't have come alone."

Dean clicked his mouth on one side, "Well, I'll agree with you there."

The doors on either side of the section the Trickster was sitting in opened, bringing in Sam and Bobby who was each holding a wooden stake. The Trickster looked back at them and then at Dean and Sarah again. "That fight you guys had outside, that was a trick?"

Dean and Sarah just shrugged at him.

He nodded, "Hm. Not bad."

The two of them pulled out their own wooden stakes, staring at the Trickster.

"But you wanna see a real trick?" With a wave of his hand, two guys wearing a mask and holding a chainsaw appeared behind Sam and Bobby, raising them above their heads. Sam and Bobby ducked out of the way before the chainsaws ripped them to shreds.

Dean tried to plunge his stake into the Trickster. One of the women stopped him, holding his arm. Sarah tried to run in and help her father until Pikachu and Charizard rushed in and blocked her path. She didn't know what to do either. These things were real and Sarah didn't have any of her own to battle them, so she backed away, slowly.

"Nice Pikachu. Nice Charizard," she told them.

Pikachu ran towards her and tackled her in the stomach, knocking her back against the stage.

Sarah got to her hands and knees, still griping the stake in her hand. She stood up, slowly and tried to swing at Pikachu but it dodged it, jumping back. Charizard stepped up, behind it to shoot out a breath of fire, burning the stake which Sarah quickly dropped. As the Pokémon inched towards her, Sarah started backing up again, glancing around for something to use before running up the side steps. The Pokémon followed until Sarah reached the top and turned around.

At that moment, Charizard spun around and hit her with its tail. Luckily, it wasn't the very end. It did hurt though as Sarah was knocked to the ground and Charizard pinned her. Pikachu was powering up an electric attack when it and the Charizard disappeared.

Sarah opened her eyes to see the Pokémon were gone and quickly got to her feet. Down below, Dean was standing over as the Trickster fell back into his seat, dead as a doornail. Everyone else was relieved it was over and got the hell out of there, running out to the Impala.

As Bobby jumped in the backseat, Sam stopped to look over the roof at Dean. "Look, Dean, um…I just want to say that I'm, uh…Um…."

Dean looked at him. "Hey," he said and hesitated. "Me too."

Sarah moved around her father to look over the hood at her uncle. "I'm sorry too, Uncle Sam," she told him.

"Same here, Peanut," he replied.

"And Dad, same goes for you. I'm sorry," Sarah turned to her father.

"Don't sweat it, Baby Girl," Dean assured her.

Bobby jumped out of the Impala to look between the Winchesters, "You guys are breaking my heart. Could we please just leave?" and slid back into the backseat.

Dean nodded at his daughter and brother before they jumped into the Impala, and sped away.


	73. Chapter 72

**To jazzy2may2: If the character is important to the series then yes, they will be included. So, yes, you can expect to see Castiel. Not for a whole other season. I am not sure what you mean by "becoming a family" though. Sarah does think of close friends as family like Dean does. **

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 72

Over the next month, the Winchesters had run-ins with, for the most part, spirits. There were two of them haunting a road. One of them a woman, reliving her death, and an old man who the woman had hit with her car the night they both died. The Winchesters spoke to the woman's husband first and researched her at the local library before finding her.

Sam had come to the conclusion that the woman did not know she was dead and Sarah had to make a reference to the movie, _The Others_. After helping the woman and burning the man's bones, the Winchesters kept good on their promise and took her back to see her husband who had remarried and moved on with his own life since that night of the accident. They talked her through to moving on to the afterlife and she vanished.

Not long after the roadside spirits, Sarah went on her first werewolf hunt. Sam ended up getting close with the victim which made it harder when they had to kill her when it became known she was the werewolf killing everyone. Madison, the girl, begged Sam to do it. Sam ended up walking out of the room and cried as he leaned against a doorframe. Sarah walked over to him and took ahold of his hand, trying to comfort him.

Sam looked down at his niece and lifted her up to hold onto to her. Sarah hugged his neck, assuring it was going to be all right. He continued to hold her head against his as Dean walked in. Dean told Sam that he would do this for him but Sam reminded his brother that Madison had asked him to do it. With one last hug from his niece, Sam passed her off to Dean taking the gun from him and went back into the other room, stealing one last look with his brother. As Dean watched him go, a tear fell from his eye as Sarah hid her face in his neck. When they heard the gunshot, Dean felt her grip tighten and he squeezed her tighter as well.

It cheered Dean and Sarah up, not long after to find a gig on a movie set where they took jobs as PAs or in other words, slaves as Sam called it. Sarah was mostly enjoying working on a movie set, not caring if she was considered a slave or not. They learned that one of the writers was bringing in the spirits that were killing crew members because he wasn't getting the respect he wanted. In the end, it was the spirits that got him and was able to move on, and Dean ended up rewarded in the end.

A couple weeks after the haunted movie set, the Winchesters got a call from a friend of John's who worked inside a prison which Sarah had to sit this one out against her protests. Even though Sarah stages as a short, adult woman and could pretend to be a guy if need be, both Sam and Dean agreed that they didn't want Sarah inside prison walls with a bunch of grown men who would literally kill her, especially since she has a tendency to open her mouth at the wrong time and pick a fight with anyone. So instead, the brothers dropped her off at the Roadhouse since Sarah stayed with Bobby the last time and hadn't seen Ellen in a while.

Once Ellen got a look at the condition of Sarah's shoes, she took her to get a new pair. It got to where Sarah's toes were sticking out. Dean felt bad about his daughter having to wear old tennis shoes that were falling apart but every time he and Sarah made plans to go replace them, a gig would pop up. Ellen was glad to do it, though but being a guy and a father, Dean wanted to insist on paying her back, saying Ellen didn't have to do that, that it was his responsibility. Ellen refused to let him pay her back, saying it was no problem at all. Besides, it was Sarah's birthday gift from her. All three Winchesters had been so focused the past few months with the demon and hunting that another year had gone by and Sarah's ninth birthday had snuck up on them. So, this year they threw a party for Sarah at the Roadhouse, inviting Bobby too.

Dean couldn't believe his little girl was nine years old now. It felt like yesterday she was only seven and he was picking her up from her grandparents' house. Now here she was, older and more mature than she was back then. Sarah was his world, the reason Dean woke up every morning. He couldn't see life without her and Sarah couldn't see her dad ever leaving her. At times, she thought about what Dean had said about John when they met Gordon, how nothing could kill her dad, that he was indestructible. That no matter what, they would always be a family.

It wasn't until the Winchesters caught wind of a djinn, did Sarah get a glimpse of what her father could be in a whole other lifestyle. While Sam stayed back at the motel, researching some more, Dean and Sarah found the trail, thanks to Sam, of the djinn in a warehouse where the two of them got separated somehow and the djinn had attacked her.

Sarah sat up in bed, panting. The last thing she remembered was the djinn standing over her and touched his tattooed hand to her forehead as it as it glowed with a bluish aura. Now here she was, lying in a bed and neither her father nor her uncle were anywhere in sight.

The ceiling light above flew on and to her surprise, John was there by her side. "Hey, what's the matter, Sarah?" he asked. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Sarah stared up at the man that was supposed to be dead. It didn't even seem like he spent time down in hell.

"Grandpa?" she finally managed to muster up. "Is that really you?"

John looked back at her, confused. "Sarah, are you feeling all right?" He felt her forehead with his left hand.

Sarah pushed his hand away, "I feel fine, Grandpa. I just can't believe you're alive."

"Of course I'm alive," he told her. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Don't you remember hell and trading your soul to save Dad?" she asked.

"Watch your language, Sarah," he told her, sternly and hugged her to him. "Whatever dream you had, it wasn't real. Okay?" John stood up and kissed the side of her head. "Your mom and dad will be here tomorrow after work." He headed for the door.

Sarah realized what her grandfather said, "My mom is alive?"

John stopped in the doorway, looking back at his granddaughter and shook his head. "I swear your dad needs to stop hitting you in the head." With that, he shut off the light again and left the room, telling her good-night.

Sarah sat there, trying to figure what it was her grandfather meant. Sure, Dean smacked her upside the head but he never did it to where it would hurt or have any effect on her brain. And how was she talking to her grandfather in the first place? How did he get out and why didn't he remember it? And her mother was alive, and _married_ to her father? What was going on here? Did it have something to do with the djinn? Did he do something?

She remembered in the car, on the way to the warehouse, her father talking to Sam on the phone how djinns were genies. Could they really grant wishes? Sarah wanted everyone alive, and that must have included her mother. Maybe her mother was a whole different person here. Wherever here was, that is.

Sarah lied back down and tried to fall asleep as she tried to make sense of what just happened. She thought about trying this new life out but her father and uncle must be worrying sick about where she was, especially her father. Eventually, sleep overcame her and before she knew it, Sarah had woken up again to the morning sun shining in. She tossed back the covers and wandered from the room and downstairs, looking up at all the photos that littered the walls and shelves of Sam and Dean growing up, as kids and even some of her when she was younger. There were family photos of her grandparents with her father and uncle at different times, growing up. What caught her eye though was a group photo of her and her father, with not her mother but Jo. Was Jo her mother or did her mother die in this universe and Dean married Jo afterwards?

It sounded like John was talking to someone in the kitchen so Sarah headed there to find her grandmother finishing up breakfast. Sarah stood there in the entryway, stunned to see her grandmother alive.

"Sarah, are you all right?" John asked, sitting at the table, eating his breakfast.

Sarah shook it off and looked over at her grandfather. "Yeah, I'm great, Grandpa." She walked over and sat next to him, her back to the kitchen sink. "I mean, I have you, Grandma, Mom and Dad. Wait, where's Uncle Sam?" Sarah had almost forgotten her uncle.

Mary set a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and a piece of toast in front of her. "His plane doesn't fly in until this afternoon, remember, honey?" she told her granddaughter.

"Yeah, of course. I forgot," she lied, looking up at her. "Where is Uncle Sam flying in from again?"

"California, remember?" she said.

"California, right." Sarah turned her attention to her food and started eating.

"Sarah," John said after sharing a look with his wife. "Did your father get mad again before he dropped you off yesterday?"

"Get mad?" She looked at her grandfather confused and suddenly felt an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Was her father a whole other person here? Sure she'd seen him mad before but the way John was sounding, it seemed like he was abusive or something. "What do you mean by mad?"

John didn't answer right away. "Sarah, you wouldn't talk to any of us until you woke up last night, now you act like you can't remember anything?" He paused for a minute before he added, "he did hit you again, didn't he?"

Sarah had placed a bite of her eggs in her mouth at that point when he asked and started choking, coughing repeatedly, and her eyes watering now. Mary quickly poured her a glass of milk and brought it to her granddaughter, who took it. Once the eggs were washed down, Sarah stared over at her grandfather. "Dad would never actually hit me. He loves me, Grandpa."

John stared down at what was left of his food.

"He does, Grandpa. Honest," she continued.

Mary had sat down on her other side to eat her own breakfast and touched her granddaughter's left shoulder. "We know he does, sweetheart. Your father just has a temper, that's all," she told her.

Sarah looked over at her grandmother then back at her grandfather. What in the world was going on here? Breakfast continued with John and Mary talking about random adult stuff before Sarah politely interrupted. "Hey, uh, when I turned six months old, was there ever a fire at our house?"

John and Mary both stared at her. "No, why do you ask?" Mary asked.

"So I don't have anything unusual about me?"

"Like what?" John asked.

Sarah shrugged, "Like anything…supernatural? Do I read books on monsters or folk tales?"

Mary looked over at her husband. "I think we should take her to the Urgent Care, John. Dean may have hit her to hard this time."

Sarah dropped her fork onto her plate. "Woah! I'm okay, Grandma. Really, I'm fine. But, uh, there wouldn't happen to be a computer here, would there?"

"No, not since your uncle moved out, you know that," John told her.

"I really think…" Mary began but John stopped her.

"Let's just give it a day and talk to Jo about it when we meet her and Dean at the restaurant and we will talk to her about it."

Sarah looked between her grandparents. Now she really didn't know what was going on. Dean treating his daughter like crap? That was absurd, he loved her. She had to see this for herself. Along with finding a computer.

After breakfast, John headed out to the backyard to do some yard work. Sarah helped her grandmother with the breakfast dishes which surprised Mary.

"So Dad and I don't get along at all?" Sarah was asking as she placed each dish inside the dishwasher.

"It seemed like since you were born, you wanted nothing to do with him and I think it kind of hurt him. Your father was never an easy person to be around and he never seemed to get along with your uncle but the first time he held you and you screamed your head off, I don't know. What little affection had surfaced had just disappeared. Your dad started drinking even more than usual after that, and from the minute you could walk he started…" Mary trailed off, tears filling up in her eyes. She tried to hide them from Sarah but Sarah saw them anyway.

"What about Mom?" Sarah asked, after a while just before they finished the dishes. "Do we get along?"

"Sarah, are you sure you're all right?" she finally asked.

"Yeah, I just had a rough night last night." Sarah placed the last dish in the dishwasher and poured the soap in for her grandmother and started it. Mary told her she could run off and play while she finished the rest. Sarah asked if she was sure and said she could take out the trash or something but Mary assured her she had everything under control.

So Sarah decided to head out to the backyard where John was pulling weeds, both dressed now. "Hey, Grandpa," she greeted him. "Need any help?"

"You want to help?" John asked, also surprised. "Where is this sudden helpfulness coming from?"

"I'm not usually helpful?"

"No, not really but if you want to, go ahead," he told her, smiling at her.

Sarah grabbed a hand shovel and kneeled beside her grandfather to start pulling up weeds. After about fifteen minutes of processing everything, she said, "I can fix everything. I'll try harder with Dad. I will try to be more helpful and a better person. I mean, I'm only nine, right? I'm still young enough to make things better."

"Sarah, your dad is his own person, making his own choices. He's the one who decided to become an alcoholic just because you and him don't have anything in common," John assured her.

"But what about our music, our smartass-ness?" she asked.

John looked up at her, "Sarah Lynn, if you don't watch your language, I will spank your butt. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," Sarah replied, returning to dig at a stubborn weed plant.

He stared at her, shocked again. "Since when do you call me, sir?"

Sarah sat back, onto her legs, "Am I just a spoiled, rotten brat or what?"

"I don't know about spoiled but you can be a brat at times," he admitted, scraping at the dirt with the shovel.

She watched him, sadly. "I've been over your knee a lot, growing up, haven't I?"

"Mm hm," he nodded, not looking up.

Sarah looked away, staring at the ground. It felt like her relationship with the Holdens had merged with her relationship with the Winchesters. She never wanted that, especially when she loved the Winchester side so much.

Sarah dropped the shovel and tackled her grandfather, hugging his neck. "I'm sorry for always giving you and everybody a hard time, Grandpa. I'm sorry for being a brat. I'll try harder, I promise. I know I can fix this."

John had been taken by surprise when she had tackled him. He sat up, onto his legs and sat Sarah on them. "Sarah, you're just a kid. Kids cause mischief. It's a part of growing up. I mean, you could have avoided some things but it's perfectly normal for kids to rebel against authority. I don't expect you to be perfect and neither does your grandmother, or your parents."

She let him go and wiped her eye, "But I know I can do better and I will fix everything."

"Okay," he smiled. "Now why don't we finish getting these weeds pulled so we can get ready for your grandmother's birthday dinner tonight?"

Sarah stared up at him, "Grandma's birthday's today?"

"Yes, Sarah. That's one of the reasons we let you come over and spend the night."

"Oh yeah. Duh," she said, trying to seem like she remembered. The two of them finished pulling weeds, shifting over to the front yard where a blue car eventually pulled up. Sarah looked over as she wiped the sweat from her forehead and saw her uncle and… "Jessica?" she asked, surprised. A big smile appeared on her face. "Uncle Sammy still has Jessica."

"Why wouldn't he?" John asked her, scrapping the ground to loosen the small weed plants. "They've been dating for almost four years."

Sarah jumped up and ran over to hug Jessica around the legs, also taking her by surprise.

"Good to see you too, Sarah," she told her.

"Same here." Sarah looked up at the young woman. "I'm just glad Uncle Sammy has you."

Sam stepped up onto the sidewalk, carrying the bags which Sarah hugged his legs too.

"You look great, Uncle Sammy," Sarah smiled up at her uncle as John walked up, wiping his tired, dirty hands on a rag.

"Uh, thanks, Sarah," he replied.

Sarah stepped back to look up at him. "You called me, Sarah."

"That is your name, isn't it?" Sam shrugged.

"But aren't I your peanut?" she asked.

Sam looked over at his father, looking to see if there was an explanation.

John just shrugged, "We think Dean hit her a little too hard in the head this time."

He just shook his head in sheer disappointment before he and Jessica went inside the house. Sarah stood there, watching them. She had to find answers to all this.


	74. Chapter 73

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 73

Sarah fixed her collar once she had the jacket on. It felt great having to dress up again for a normal occasion instead of posing as FBI or something. It was even better that she was still a tomboy in this universe or whatever it was, too. She had her whole Winchester family, no sign of the Holdens anywhere. What could make it better? Oh yeah, fixing this screwed-up version so it could be like before. Well, her relationship with her father anyway. She'll miss hunting but at least she has all her family and could finally have the life she always wanted.

Once everyone was ready, they climbed into…the family's minivan with John driving. _Okay, add that to the strange list of things I can't believe_, Sarah thought as she sat in the backseat behind her uncle's seat. So if this was the djinn's doing, not only was he screwed up in the head, but also had a sense of humor, considering her grandfather never seemed like the soccer dad-type.

After a twenty-minute drive, John pulled into the parking lot and parked right next to…_the Impala? _Sarah looked over, her eyes opened wide. Her father still had the Impala? Yes, more good news to outweigh the bad. As soon as Jessica had stepped out, Sarah jumped out on her side, walking around the Impala.

"I'm so glad you're here, girl," Sarah told the car, silently as she stared around at it until her grandfather hurried her along. The family walked across the parking lot, walking up to the restaurant and headed inside. Sarah held the door for the adults, smiling up at them as they walked in, thanking her.

The hostess walked them over to a large table where Dean and Jo were already sitting. Sarah sprinted over the minute she saw them stand up, running over to embrace her father. She expected him to scoop her up like he always did but not this time. He was like stone as Sarah hugged his legs.

"Get off, Sarah," he told her. "We're in public and you shouldn't be running in a restaurant."

Sarah stepped back, more hurt than surprised. "I'm sorry, Dad. I was just excited to see you."

"Oh yeah? Since when?"

"Dean, that's enough," Jo told him and reached down to hug the little girl to her, kissing the top of her head. "Did you have fun at your grandparents' house?"

"Yeah, Jo…er, I mean…Mom." This was something Sarah had to get used to.

Jo stared at her, confused. "Are you feeling all right, Sarah?" She touched Sarah's forehead, feeling for a fever.

Mary walked over to give Jo a hug and to say hello as Jo wished her a _happy birthday_. "She's been forgetful all day. I told John we should take her to the Urgent Care but he said to wait it out and talk to you about it." She looked over at her oldest son who was over talking to his father and brother, and lowered her voice. "Did Dean…yesterday?"

Jo shrugged, "I don't know. I was working late. That's why I asked Dean to drop Sarah off at your house."

"We think he may have done it too hard this time. She's been asking strange questions…"

Sarah was trying to listen in on the women's conversation, to learn something herself until a young woman caught her eye on the other side of the restaurant. She had long, brown hair and wearing a dirty, ragged-looking dress. Who she was, Sarah hadn't a clue but it seemed like the young woman was staring over at her. She looked around at her family and at the restaurant. No one else seemed to notice her.

Once they were seated, the Winchesters each looked at their menus. Sarah could really go for a cheeseburger right about now but of course, the restaurant didn't serve anything fast food. She looked at her menu for five minutes, trying to decide which unknown to her, everyone else had decided and was waiting on her. Dean was starting to lose his patience.

"Will you choose something already?" he asked of her, annoyance apparent in his voice.

Sarah looked up at him. Usually when Dean said something like that, he said it with a grin. Now he really was annoyed. In the end, Sarah chose a grilled chicken plate with mashed potatoes and corn. When the food arrived, the adults toasted to Mary, wishing her a _happy birthday_ which Sarah joined in, raising her ginger ale.

Sarah took a bite of her chicken. She couldn't remember the last time she had a real meal like this. It had been so long, and even though it wasn't a cheeseburger, it still tasted good and was thrilled to be sharing the experience with her family. She smiled over at each of them, as her grandparents shared a kiss, along with her uncle and Jessica. It felt great seeing them happy. She was even happier when she noticed behind her, her father and Jo reaching behind to give each other a kiss. This had to be the best dinner she had ever had.

Halfway through the meal, Sam spoke up. "All right," he announced. "Jess and I actually have another surprise for Mom's birthday." He turned to Jessica. "Uh, you wanna tell them?"

Jessica nodded her head at the family, "They're your family."

"All right," he smiled.

"What?" Mary asked, smiling. "Tell me what?"

Sam held Jessica's hand out to show everyone the silver, diamond ring that was on her left, ring finger. Sarah scooted to the edge of her chair, leaning forward to see it better. She couldn't believe it and with her grandmother's excitement, and her grandfather telling Sam, "That's my boy," she knew what it was. Her uncle was getting married to the woman he loved, the life Sam had wanted when she and Dean had picked him up from Stanford. She was going to have cousins possibly!

Sarah slid around in her chair when everyone stood up to exchange hugs and congratulations, and ran around the table to hug her uncle. Sam kneeled down to her level. "I am so happy for you, Uncle Sammy," she told him from his left shoulder. Tears of joy were flooding her eyes.

Sam lifted her off his shoulder to look at his niece. "Sarah, are you crying?" he asked, surprised again.

She nodded, smiling at him. "You deserve this more than anything, Uncle Sammy."

"Thanks, Sarah," he smiled in return.

"You're welcome."

"But since when do you call me, Uncle Sammy?" Sam asked.

Sarah looked back at her uncle before the same young woman from before caught her eye again.

Sam looked over where his niece was looking but didn't see anything. "What's wrong, Sarah?" he asked her, looking between her and where she was staring at.

Sarah started walking over towards the young woman, never removing her eyes. When she was close, the young woman had disappeared. Sarah looked around the restaurant then turned around to see her whole family staring at her. It didn't seem like any of them saw the woman and all of them but Dean looked at her, concerned. Dean looked pissed.

After dinner, the family headed outside where they said their good-byes and wished Mary a _happy birthday_ one last time before splitting up. Dean and Sarah let John pull out of the parking space before walking over to their side of the car. Once John was gone, Dean hit Sarah across the head.

"Ow! Dad, what was that for?" she asked, rubbing where it hurt.

"Why did you have to embarrass your mother and me in there, for?" he demanded of his daughter. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I thought I saw a girl in there. She looked really messed up and was looking right at me," Sarah tried to explain. "I think it may be a spirit of some kind."

Dean stared down at her like she was crazy. "That's the poorest excuse I've ever heard. There's no such things as spirits, Sarah Lynn. Just wait until I get you home." He walked over to his car door and thrust it open.

"Dean, enough. Sarah's just having a really hard time, right now," Jo stood up for her from her side of the Impala. "And I know you did it again yesterday after I called you."

"Yeah, well the kid ruined Mom's birthday, just so you know and I'm not going to stand for it. She's getting her ass beat when we get home." Dean then got in the car and slammed his door shut.

Sarah stood there at the trunk of the Impala. She looked up to see Jo sadly staring at her, as if to send the kid some sympathy before she motioned with her head to get inside when Dean honked. The drive home was in silence for the most part.

Sarah couldn't believe how her father was, here. He was a total different person. She felt nothing from this Dean. Quickly wiping away a tear, she finally spoke. "Dad, I'm sorry I never felt close to you but I can fix it now. Everything's gonna be okay, I promise."

"Save it, kid," he snarled at her through the rear-view mirror. "You're not getting your way out of this."

"But Dad, I love you. I'm your baby girl, remember?" She tried to lean over the back of the front seat until her father made her sit back.

"You're nine years old, Sarah, not a baby!" Dean shifted in his seat and muttered, "Man, I hate having a daughter."

Even though he muttered it, Sarah could still hear him and it broke her heart as tears filled her eyes. Maybe she couldn't fix this after all. This Dean was the complete opposite of the man she knew and loved. She had to figure out how to get out of this nightmare and get her old father back. The one that was proud to have her as his daughter.

Dean pulled into the driveway of a small, two bedroom house and turned off the engine. Sarah decided to get out on Jo's side as he went back to open the trunk. Jo kneeled down to hold her close, comforting her. Dean grew impatient again.

"Sarah, let's go! Come get your bag before I beat your ass right now," he ordered of her.

Jo let go and told Sarah to do as she was told. Sarah walked slowly over to the trunk and grabbed her duffel bag, amazed how empty the trunk was except for old beer cans and a couple car magazines, before Dean closed it and shoved her by the head, towards the house. Dean had shut and locked the front door behind him when he started.

"I don't know what has been going on with you lately, but I will not let you embarrass your mother and I the way you did at the restaurant."

Sarah looked up just in time to receive a hit on the side of her head, knocking her to the floor. Jo tried to hurry to her side but Dean stopped her.

"Do not interfere, Jo. She needs to learn her lesson," he told her.

Jo backed up as tears filled Sarah's eyes again as she tried to stand again. "Dad, I'm sorry I never got along with you before but I want to make it right. We're the closest dad and daughter there is, I bet. In fact I know we are. Please, Dad. Don't do this."

Neither of them had expected Sarah to speak at all, much less try and reason with the man.

Dean laughed down at her, moving over to stand over Sarah. "Yeah right," he said. "And you expect me to believe that. Since you were born you wanted nothing to do with me. I didn't even want a daughter in the first place and to make things worse, she resents me? I don't think so." Dean reached down and pulled Sarah back to her feet and pulled back his right hand before bringing it down, hard on her backside, using all his strength.

Sarah cried out. "Dad, please! I mean it. I love you!" she continued to plead with him.

Dean just ignored her and brought his hand down on her backside again, keeping it up until he shoved her into the wall, bringing his face inches from hers. "Listen, kid, I could care less about you." With that, Dean let her go and stormed into the kitchen to grab himself a beer, leaving his daughter there, her face full of tears and snot.

Sarah defiantly did not like this at all. She wanted back in her own universe. She wanted her father back. Sure, her grandparents weren't alive anymore, and her uncle had lost the woman he loved and wanted to spend the rest of his life with, at least Dean wasn't a monster there. In fact, the only reason she would stay there would be for her uncle and grandparents' happiness.

She watched him go. Jo walked over and wrapped the little girl in a comforting embrace. "I'm so sorry, Sarah," she cried, silently.

Sarah sniffed, holding onto her. "About what, J-Mom?"

"I let this happen. I should be protecting you and I don't." Jo let out a few sobs. "I'm sorry."

Sarah ended up the one comforting Jo, "It's okay…M-Mom. I forgive you."

Jo kneeled there, holding onto Sarah as she held her head to her. "I love you, Sarah," she told her after a moment.

"I love you too," Sarah replied from her right shoulder. She had been trying to ignore the sting coming from her bottom. This was real all right. Everything was real. It wasn't a dream.

After Jo ran a bath for her, Sarah soaked in it for a long time, trying to ease the sting before she finally got out and got dressed in her pajamas. She wandered around, looking for Jo who was in the master bedroom, watching the news. Sarah crawled into the bed and lied down next to her as the news reporter was talking about the anniversary of a plane crash in Indianapolis which Sarah realized was the same plane, she, Dean, and Sam had stopped the demon on.

She raised her head as the reporter continued.

"What's wrong?" Jo asked her.

"No way," Sarah muttered and turned to Jo. "We stopped that plane from crashing."

"Who's we, Sarah?"

Sarah shook her head at the bed, her eyes shut. "Nothing," she said and glanced over at the nightstand on the other side of Jo. Sitting right in front of the lamp was a laptop. "Who's computer is that?"

Jo looked over it and back at Sarah. "Mine, you know that," she told her.

"Can I use it?" Sarah asked, eagerly.

Taken aback, Jo reached over and picked it up, opening the laptop to turn it on and signed in. Sarah sat up, onto her legs and took the laptop from Jo. She was about to open the internet browser when she suddenly stared at the family photo of them on the desktop background. Dean and Jo had their arm wrapped around each other with Sarah in between them, at age five just glaring at the camera. She didn't look like a happy kid at all. The three of them were sitting on a huge beach towel, at a beach.

"Mom," she finally said. "Am I emo?"

"You're quiet most of the time. You hardly say a word to anyone but when you do, it's usually to cause trouble," Jo explained. "I wouldn't call you emo though. Just, hard-tempered like your father."

Sarah just shook her head at the picture and looked up at Jo. "I am so sorry. I can't say that enough." She looked back at the laptop and opened the internet browser and started searching around for any and all the gigs she, Dean, and Sam had done the past two years.

Every single person they had saved was dead. Lucas and Tyler had drowned. Michael and his brother along with those other kids the shtriga was after were dead. Everyone.

"They're all dead," she said in horror as she stared at the screen.

"Who's all dead?" Jo looked over at the screen. "Sarah, what are you looking at?" All she saw were dozens of news articles of accidents.

Sarah then brought up a new tab and looked up djinns, finding out all she could about them. She had to get out of this nightmare. She had to.

Once she found a web site on djinns, she read as much as she could before Jo told her it was past her bedtime and made her shut off the laptop. Sarah went to her room and shut the door, sitting on the edge of the bed. She stared at the floor, angrily before she looked up.

"Why couldn't another hunter have saved all those people?" she prayed. "Why did it have to be us? How can you put all this weight on us for? And why does Dad have to be a jackass here?" Sarah felt her fists clench tightly in her lap. "Why can't I have my whole family in a normal life, with lots of love and affection? Why can't Uncle Sam have Jessica and start his own family? Why does Grandma have to be dead while Grandpa is suffering in hell? Why do we have to save these people and be miserable ourselves? Why do I have to have this demon blood inside me? Why does it have to hurt so much for?" Tears ran down both sides of her face as she sat there, praying to God. She then stood up, getting dressed, and grabbed her duffel bag, sneaking out of the house and took off running. She remembered seeing real silver at her grandparents' house. Sarah didn't want to, but she was going to have to steal a knife from them. The real John would understand, but wasn't so sure on the real Mary. She also wasn't sure how she was going to find lamb's blood or how she was getting to Illinois, but she'll figure that out once she had a silver knife.


	75. Chapter 74

**Just a quick note about the "Dean" in Sarah's wish. This Dean was created by the djinn and is not physically the real Dean Winchester. Dean is my favorite character and know he would never treat Sarah or any other kid he could have like the way he did last chapter. **

**Also, sorry for the short chapter. I wasn't expecting it to be this short and I didn't want to start on _All Hell Breaks Loose _in the middle of a chapter. **

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 74

As quiet as she could, Sarah very careful opened the window of her grandparents' house and climbed inside as not to wake anyone. Very carefully, she crept over to the china cabinet and opened it to pull out a silverware case. Hearing a loose floorboard creak, Sarah turned around in time to see her grandfather standing there as he turned on the light.

"Sarah? What are you doing here?" He walked over and noticed his wife's china cabinet open and the silverware case on the floor, also open. John didn't know what to make of this. "Sarah, are you stealing from your grandmother?"

"Well, I uh…" Sarah tried to think of an explanation. This John didn't know about the monsters that were really out there. Regardless though, she didn't want to lie to her grandfather. "You want the truth?"

"Yes, Sarah. What in the world is going on with you?" he asked, concerned.

Sam came downstairs, holding his father's softball bat in attack position. He lowered it when he saw it was only his niece. "Sarah? What's going on?" he asked, confused.

"Sarah was just about to start explaining," John told him and folded his arms, looking over at Sarah.

Sarah stared down at the silver knife in her hand.

"We're waiting."

Sarah looked up at her grandfather and uncle. "All of this…it's…it's not supposed to be. This is like my wish, twisted around," she began.

"What are you talking about, Sarah?" asked Sam, after exchanging looks with his father.

"I have to go set things right. I have to go hunt what's called a djinn and kill him with a silver knife dipped in lamb's blood, wherever I'm going to find that."

Both men stared down at her like she was speaking in tongues. It was John who finally spoke, "I'm sorry, you're going to go do what now?"

"I know it sounds crazy but it's true. Grandpa, you're supposed to be in hell, literally. Grandma died before I was born in your nursery, Uncle Sam and Dad is the best dad a kid could ever ask for. We're supposed to be hunting right now, and you and Dad are probably looking all over that warehouse for me."

Sam looked over at his father, who had lowered his head, his eyes close.

"Why couldn't you leave well enough alone, Sarah?" John asked of her.

Sarah looked at her grandfather, confused, "Huh?"

"So what if your dad's a jackass? You have all of us here to protect you. Your grandmother and I could take custody of you and you can come live with us, if you like."

Sarah twirled the knife in her hand. "As much as I would love that, and for your happiness with Jessica, Uncle Sam, I have to set things, right. Like Dad said once, this isn't natural and I can't keep living in a dream world. I want my dad back. The real Dean Winchester. I want the Uncle Sam I'm close to who calls me, his little peanut, I…"

Suddenly, it felt like she was hearing voices inside her head, familiar voices. She looked up at the ceiling and could have sworn it was her father calling her, the real Dean. "Dad?"

She looked around the room as her grandmother, Jo, and Jessica appeared.

"Don't you want to get to know me, honey?" Mary asked her.

"I thought you missed me," John added.

"I do but…this isn't really you." Sarah closed her eyes and tried to listen to her father. What he said wasn't making sense though.

_Sarah, listen to me. If you can find something, stab yourself to wake up. Trust me, you'll be just fine._

Sarah stared at the silver knife in her hand. Something in her heart was telling her to listen. She looked up at John with a tear falling from her eye. "I love you guys so much but…" She gripped the knife in both hands. Shutting her eyes, tight, Sarah plunged the knife into her stomach.

Sarah shot up, gasping out in pain. She looked around to find she was in the warehouse again and that her father was right there, beside her. "Dad? Is that you? The real you?" she asked.

"Yeah, Baby Girl, it's me," he told her, softly.

_Baby Girl! He called me, Baby Girl!_ Sarah got up, onto her legs and jumped into his arms. "You don't know how much I'm glad to hear you call me, your baby girl," she told him as she squeezed his neck.

After the paramedics picked up the young woman, who was just in Sarah's same situation as well as Dean, Sarah told her father and uncle everything about her alternate reality the djinn had created. Dean was silent the whole time. Every bone in his body told him to stay in his while Sarah couldn't wait to get out of hers.

At the motel, Dean was looking through a magazine when Sarah came out of the bathroom, showered for real, this time. He tossed the magazine to the side and pulled Sarah onto his lap.

"So yours was pretty much hell, huh?" he told her.

Sarah laid her head against his chest not saying a word.

"You know I would never do something like that, right?"

She nodded against his chest. "It felt great having Grandma alive, Uncle Sammy had Jessica and was starting a family of his own, Jo was my mom, Grandpa wasn't suffering in hell...but the whole thing with you, Dad and the fact that everyone we saved so far was dead." She shrugged, "I just wanted out of there. I wanted you, the real you." Sarah looked up at her father.

"I know, Baby Girl, I know. Did Sam and I get along with each other in yours?" he asked, curious.

Sarah shook her head.

"So we didn't get along then, huh?" Sam was sitting on the other bed across from them, now off the phone.

Sarah shook her head at her uncle. "You didn't even call me, peanut."

Sam's heart broke, watching his niece. He held his arms out to her but she refused.

"If it's okay, I'd like to be with my dad, right now," and with that, Sarah laid her head back against her father.

Sam said after a minute, "I thought it was supposes to be this perfect fantasy?"

"More like nightmare," Sarah stated, bitterly.

Dean kissed the top of her forehead. "It's just a wish," he said, looking at the floor. "I wished for Mom to live. If Mom never died, we never went hunting. And you and me, Sam, we just never, uh…you know."

"Same here," Sarah told him, sadly.

He held her, close. "Sarah was still born, but we just never got close either."

"I guess it was a good thing you came later after I discovered hunting," Sarah admitted.

"Guess so," Dean replied. "The only thing that really got me out of there was you, Baby Girl. I couldn't stay in there, knowing the real you was still out here, unprotected. I had to get out of there."

"It's a good thing you did, when you did," she told him.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Because I don't know where I was going to find lamb's blood." Sarah couldn't help smile at that.

"Anywhere that sells meat, usually."

She shrugged, "Oh, good to know."

"But there was still a part of me that wanted to stay," Dean admitted. "You were a normal kid, a quiet, bratty kid, but a normal kid." He looked over at Sam, "You had Jess. Mom was going to have more grandkids, and actually get to know them."

"So was Grandpa," Sarah added.

"Dad wasn't in mine, Baby Girl. He had died in his sleep from a stroke," he told her.

"Oh," she replied, sadly, looking away.

"It wasn't real, Dean," Sam pointed out, "and I'm glad you both got out."

Sarah looked over at her uncle. "It felt real," she said.

"Ever since Dad…" Dean wrapped his arms around his daughter, resting his head on hers. "All I can think about is how much this job's cost us. We've lost so much." He paused for a couple seconds, moving his forehead so it rested against the top of her head. "We've…sacrificed so much."

Sarah started crying, softly. "I like hunting, but it is so hard to lose the ones we love," she agreed.

"People are alive because of you," Sam assured his brother and niece. "It's worth it. It is. It's not fair. It hurts like hell but it's worth it."

"I know," was all Sarah said while Dean didn't say anything at all.


	76. Chapter 75

**Sorry it took so long, I was trying to find one of my friends to read this for me and catch the typos that I may have missed. Everyone had stuff going on so I couldn't find anyone but I read through and revised it twice (not in the same day), and fixed what I could. Hopefully, its readable. **

**Another thing I want to point out is, I am thankful for all your favorites and reviews, and have no problem with criticism as long as you're not a jerk about it. So, if you see a review that is criticizing the story, don't worry about it. I appreciate it but I privately respond to reviews myself and don't get offended by criticism since that's what being a writer is about.  
**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 75

It was getting really late and the Winchesters still hadn't found a motel yet. Sarah was growing more hungry than tired though. Thankfully, there was a diner on the side of the road. Dean pulled up to the diner, hungry himself, and parked, handing Sam the money.

"Hey, don't forget the extra onions, this time, huh?" Dean reminded his brother.

Sam looked back at him, "Dude," he told him and grabbed the money. "I'm the one who's gonna have to ride in the car with your extra onions."

Dean gave him a smile, grasping the steering wheel in his left hand as Sam stepped out.

"Wait for me, Uncle Sam," Sarah told her uncle, scooting over to open the car door on his side.

"Hey, see if they got any pie," Dean quickly called after his brother.

Sam bent over to give him a hard glare before shutting his door.

"Don't worry, Dad. I will make sure he does," Sarah assured her father.

"Thanks, Baby Girl. Love ya," he said.

"I love you too, Dad," she said and shut her door to hurry after her uncle. Dean watched them leave and head inside before turning the car radio's volume up. After a minute, it started cutting in and out, statically.

Dean tried hitting the radio with his finger which wasn't doing anything and looked back over his shoulder and all around him. He looked over at the diner to find Sam and Sarah not in sight. Dean jumped from the car and hurried inside to find a man sitting in one of the booths, with a pool of blood around his head, on the table. Quickly getting his gun out, Dean walked through the diner, calling out to his brother and daughter as country music played on a radio somewhere.

There was no reply from any of them.

Walking through the diner, he saw that all the workers and customers were dead, their throats cut. Dean checked out the back door, finding sulfur along the small window. Hurrying from the diner through the main door, he yelled out for Sam and Sarah.

"Sam? Sarah? Sammy! Sarah!" Dean yelled Sarah's name the loudest once he reached the parking lot. Neither of them were anywhere in sight.

Sarah opened her eyes and slowly lifted her head, looking around at her surroundings. It was light out, but still dark because of storm clouds. She wasn't sure where she was but it looked like something out of a western. Sarah was lying in the dirt, which was damp from the rain, in between two really old-looking buildings.

Picking herself up, Sarah wandered over to look out at her surroundings. It seemed like some kind of an old frontier town. She took a right and started looking for any civilization of any kind. Or at least a phone.

Sarah wondered where her uncle and father were, and how she had gotten there. She tried to think back to what she last remembered. Her and Sam had walked inside the diner and over to the cashier. Then she remembered the cashier's eyes turning black and the strong smell of sulfur, and suddenly, all she could see was darkness. So a demon had brought her here? But why?

Heading up some steps, Sarah pushed through a worn-out door and checked inside. It had only two rooms. The one she stood in had an old pioneer stove that looked like it hadn't been used in many years and a lot of old, worn-out, wooden furniture scattered around. In the other room was a wooden bedframe with a wire mattress holder, but no mattress. When she moved more into the house, a voice startled her from behind. Sarah turned around to see the demon standing in the doorway, smirking at her.

"Hiya, Sarah. How's it going?" he told her.

"You," she glared at him. "I should have known you were behind this. I've been waiting for you, this time but first, where the hell am I? Why am I here?"

The demon stepped towards her, the door slamming shut behind him. "Remember those plans I have for you," he asked.

"Yeah. What about them?"

"This is it. Well, first you have to survive a test but I have total faith you'll pull through," the demon explained and stopped two feet away from her.

"What kind of test?" Sarah eyed him, suspiciously.

"A survival test," he said. "A best of the best, you might say. And I'm counting on you to win."

Sarah clenched her fists at her sides. "I'm not doing anything you say."

He shrugged, "That's your choice if you don't mind dying."

"You're not gonna kill me." She wasn't about to back down to him.

"That's right, I won't," the demon shook his head. "But someone else might."

"Who, your demon followers? I know the exorcism by heart, I can send them straight back to hell," Sarah snarled at the demon.

"No, I'm talking about your fellow psychics," the demon smirked.

Sarah stared up at him, unsure of what he just said.

"Only one of you will make it out alive and with how smart and well-trained you are, thanks to your daddy, I guarantee it will be you."

"If you think I'm killing another person, think again," she told him, angrily.

The demon only shrugged.

"But I want to know one thing," Sarah changed the subject. "Why do I have demon blood? And how did I get demon blood if both my parents are both human?"

"Sarah, didn't you pay any attention to those nightmares of yours of the night your aunt died?"

She folded her arms across her chest. "Uh, no. No, I didn't. I was more freaked out of my mind of my aunt burning on the ceiling, you jackass," Sarah replied, sarcastically.

"Ouch, always with the name-calling, Sarah? Fine, I will show you one more time." With a snap of his fingers, the two of them appeared in a dark bedroom with a bassinet at the foot of a queen bed. Sarah's aunt, Kyra was asleep on one side of it. The only light was from the full moon outside the window and a light from another room, across the hall.

A silhouette of a man stood beside the bassinet. Sarah watched as he cut his wrist with the nail of the thumb on his opposite hand until it bled. Blood dripped from the cut and down into the bassinet where it landed inside the mouth of a six-month old infant with very thin blond hair and green eyes.

Sarah knew from baby photos that the young infant was her. "You…dripped y-your…your blood in me?" she questioned of the demon.

"Better than mother's milk," he grinned.

Kyra started to stir and eventually sat up, looking over at the bassinet when the infant started fussing from the bitter taste of the blood. She saw the demon standing there and jumped out of fear, calling for her husband.

The demon suddenly pinned her against the wall. Sarah watched as her aunt rose and stopped on the ceiling where she then caught on fire.

"You've seen the rest," the demon told Sarah and snapped his fingers once. They were back in the pioneer house.

Sarah was backing away from him in utter shock. "I have…your blood…in me? But why me? Why any of us?" she asked.

"There's not a specific reasoning to my methods. I never counted on you either but something about you just drew me to you. The same thing that drew me your uncle Sammy. You had smarts, potential. And I wanted it. Then you turned five and those visions into hell of yours started. None of my other psychics could see into hell nor start at that age so I was impressed." The demon started circling around her as Sarah eyed him, never removing her gaze. "I realized you had to be the one. All the others had failed me but I knew for certain. Yes, it had to be you." He stopped behind her.

Sarah, who was watching him over her right shoulder, turned around to fully face him. "What is it exactly you want one of us for?" she asked, feeling a little curious now.

He smirked. "Well, I can't give away the big, grand prize before the winner is decided, now can I." With that, the demon was gone.

She looked around the room and thought on what she had learned, letting everything sink in before leaving the house. For the next twenty minutes, Sarah scoured the entire perimeter of the old town, finding nothing but woods. Reaching behind her, Sarah pulled out her pistol, checking it, before looking around. It was fully loaded but wondered if she could make it through the woods on foot and how long it would take.

A child's laughter was heard, making Sarah turn on the spot. A few yards away, there was a young woman hanging from a windmill. She sprinted over there where a group of people were standing. One young man was walking over to the windmill to cut the woman down. Over on the porch of one of the buildings was her uncle talking to who Sarah recognized as Andrew Gallagher.

The first young man noticed Sarah first. "Sam, there's another one!" he yelled for Sam.

Sam looked up, over at Sarah. "Sarah?" he asked, in disbelief.

"Uncle Sam!" Sarah sprinted over and jumped into her uncle's arms and hugged his neck. "Am I so glad to see you," and pointed over at the young woman who was still hanging up there. "What happened to the girl?"

Sam explained to his niece a brief history of the town and how it was haunted by demons. When he told her that the yellow-eyed demon was trying to keep them there, Sarah then explained about her recent confrontation with the demon.

"So it wants us to kill each other?" Andrew asked when Sarah was finished.

"It wants the best one of us," Sarah told him, standing on her own feet now.

"For what?" the young man from before asked her.

Sarah looked back at him and shrugged. "He wouldn't say."

"Being a soldier is one thing, but killing each other?" a young woman Sarah recognized as her uncle's friend, Ava said.

"Look, no one is killing anyone," Sam assured them. "Like I said before, we have to be ready for whatever happens next."

"Have you tried calling Dad, Uncle Sam?" she asked him.

"There's no phone signal," he said.

"You know, you may not need one," Andrew spoke up.

"Why's that?" asked Sarah.

"I've been practicing my mind thing and I can put images into people's head. I mean, I never tried it long distance but maybe I can try it on your dad. Do any of you have anything of his on you? Like something he touched."

Sam was checking his pockets.

Sarah pulled out a silver lighter from her jeans pocket. "This is his, will this work?"

"Yeah," he replied and Sarah handed it to him.

Sam watched his niece before he asked, "Why do you have your dad's lighter?"

Sarah shrugged, "I don't know."

Sam just rolled his eyes and shook his head, smiling to himself. He didn't think he would ever understand his niece, fully.

Andrew focused on a bell with an engraving of an oak tree on the side, that was in the center of the town and on Sarah as well, sending it, telepathy to Dean. "Well, hopefully it worked," he shook it off afterwards, handing Sarah back the lighter.

"Sorry, but I have to ask out of protection for my dad. This doesn't hurt him at all, does it?" she asked of him.

"It's like a painful headache, but no lasting effects. Kind of like when you two have those vision things," Andrew pointed out.

Meanwhile, Dean was walking towards the Impala with Bobby. Behind them was the Roadhouse in ruins and ashes. None of them was sure what had happened or if Ellen was alive or not. They tried to look for her inside the rubble but had only found Ash, by his wristwatch.

Dean was freaking out about everything, but was more worried about his brother, and even more, his daughter than anything else. Bobby tried to assure him that they will find both Sarah and Sam when Dean started feeling pain in his head.

"Dean?" Bobby asked from the other side of the Impala's hood.

Dean grunted in pain, briefly seeing an image of a bell.

"What was that?" Bobby demanded, confused.

Dean tried to shake it off. "I don't know. Headache," he replied.

"You get headaches like that a lot?"

He shook his head, looking down as he leaned on the hood, "No. No. Must be the stress," Dean tried to force a smile for Bobby. He took a deep breath, standing up and covered his eyes with his hand. "I could have swore I saw something."

"What do you mean? Like… Like a vision?" Bobby continued to ask. "Like what Sam and Sarah gets?"

"What? No," Dean told him, leaning on the hood again.

"I'm just saying," he said. "It would make more sense for you to have one than Sam since Sarah's yours."

"Come on, I'm not some psychic." Another wave of pain ran through Dean's head, this time more intense than the last. Bobby rushed to his side as another image of the same bell flashed through his mind then of Sarah.

"Are you with me?" Bobby asked when the vision was over.

Dean gasped for air, lying halfway on the hood. "Yeah, I think so. I saw Sarah. I saw her, Bobby. I think part of Sam too." He rubbed the side of his hand against his right eye.

"It was a vision," the older hunter said, touching Dean's upper back.

"Yeah," Dean agreed, lifting his head to lean on his hands. "I don't know how. But, yeah. Hoo." The vision had taken a lot out of him as Dean tried to shake it off. "That was about as fun as getting kicked in the jewels," he looked up at Bobby then down at the hood again. "My poor baby girl," Dean mumbled to himself, trying not to let Bobby hear him. He had a reputation to keep, after all. He now sort of knew what both his brother and daughter went through.

Bobby finally asked, "What else did you see?"

"Uh," Dean thought about it. "There was a bell."

"What kind of bell?"

"Uh, like a big…big bell," he explained, using his hands, "with some kind of engraving on it, I don't know."

"Engraving?" Bobby was thinking about it.

"Yeah," Dean replied.

"Was it a tree? Like an oak tree?"

Dean looked up at him again, amazed Bobby had guessed it. "Yeah. Exactly," he said.

Bobby nodded, "I know where Sarah is." It was an old abandoned town somewhere in South Dakota. Bobby explained it to him when they were back in the Impala. Dean sped down the road, headed in that direction.


	77. Chapter 76

**Sorry again it took this long. I thought I had found someone to proofread this for me but then I learned he couldn't read it because of the mention of demons and I can understand that. I did try though and I did read and revise through the next three of these chapters. If there are typos, just pm me and let me know the chapter and sentence and I will go back and fix it. I guess when I type, my thoughts and ideas go faster than my typing speed so I do tend to miss a word or something like that. **

**Anther thing, this may not be what some of you wanted but I hope it's okay. I basically had this planned since the beginning of season two but I did take your reviews into consideration. Hope you like it and let me know what you think.**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 76

That night, the group stayed in one of the buildings. After Andrew found sacks of salt, Ava and Sarah laid them along the doors and windows while Sam and the young man, Jake went in search for anything made of iron they could use to defend themselves. Sarah didn't tell anyone about the gun she had on her, not even her uncle. Of course, it wasn't like it would do any good anyway against demons. Why Sarah still had it on her, she wasn't sure. She figured it was there from the last hunt and just never placed it back in the trunk of the Impala.

That night, the group waited for whatever happened next. Andrew was the first to fall asleep and when Sarah looked over at her uncle, she saw he was trying to fight falling asleep himself. She and Jake circled around the room, each holding a blunt, iron bar.

"So you're one of us?" Jake asked of Sarah after a while.

"Yup," was all she replied, not letting her guard down. Sam had fallen asleep by now.

"You can't be no more than six or seven," he said.

"Nine, actually and I guess you can say I am an early bloomer," Sarah shrugged.

Jake asked, "You scared?"

"A little but I can't let fear get the best of me. Lives are at stake and I have to be brave so I can be ready for whatever comes my way." Sarah twirled the iron bar in her hands.

"That's a lot for a kid to have to deal with," he said.

"Yeah, well, there's a time to be a kid and there's a time to work." She looked over at the young man, noticing his uniform. "You were in the war when this happened?"

"Yeah, stationed in Afghanistan," he said.

"My second cousin was stationed in Iraq."

"Really. What was his name?" Jake asked, curious.

"Mark Holden," she answered.

"Oh. Never heard of him."

Sarah shrugged, "I guess he was dismissed when he had his accident."

"What happened?" he asked.

She shrugged again, "I hadn't seen him in two years, then one day we meet up and he's in a wheelchair. He said he couldn't walk anymore." At that moment, Sarah noticed Ava was missing. "Where's Ava?" she asked, looking around the room.

Jake looked around the room as well. "I thought she was sitting there at the table."

"Ava!" Sarah called.

There was no answer.

"Shit," she said. Sarah and Jake checked the rest of the house but Ava was nowhere in sight. Jake checked around outside but didn't find her out there either. So Sarah hurried over to her uncle and shook him awake. "Ava's missing," she told him.

Sam stared at his niece before they hurried outside while Andrew stayed.

"I'll take the barn and the hotel, you take the houses," Jake told Sam and Sarah.

Sarah agreed but Sam shook his head. "Peanut, you get back inside with Andy."

"What?" she questioned. "But I want to help."

"And you will. Help protect Andy," he told her.

"But…fine," Sarah reluctantly gave in and hurried back inside. "You okay, Andy?" she asked when she stepped back over the line of salt in the doorway.

"Yeah. A little freaked out but I'm good," he replied.

"Yeah, demons will do that to you and worse," Sarah nodded, holding the iron bar on the back of her neck, leaning her arms over both ends.

"Well, that's comforting."

Sarah shrugged, "But as long as the salt stays in place, they shouldn't get through."

"How does salt keep them out anyway? I mean, I never thought it was useful other than putting it on my eggs," said Andrew.

"It's a purifier, according to folklore. Works with ghosts too," Sarah explained. The two of them happened to look over and see Ava standing at the window. "Ava, there you are. We've been calling you for the past fifteen minutes."

Ava ran two fingers through the salt and turned around. "Yeah, I heard."

Sarah nodded behind her at the window, "What did you just do over there?"

Ava didn't say a word. Instead, she lowered her head and placed her fingers on either side of it. Black smoke appeared and went through a crack under the closed window, coming into the room.

"What are you doing?" Andrew questioned, backing away.

Sarah stepped in front of Andrew, raising the iron bar, ready to defend him. When the smoke turned into a messed up, little girl with long finger nails, it zoomed around Sarah and aimed for Andrew. Sarah tried to bash it away but it got to Andrew faster and dug its nails into his flesh before she could do anything.

Sarah looked back at Ava in disbelief. "What the hell is your problem? You're actually doing what the demon wants us to do?"

"Look, I've been here a long time. And not alone either, people just keep showing up," Ava told her. "Children, like us. Batches of three or four at a time."

Realization hit Sarah. "So you're not the sweet, innocent young girl you've been, so far."

"Had you going there, didn't I?" Ava smirked.

"And the others? What happened to them?" Sarah tightened her grip on the bar. "You didn't…kill them. Did you?"

She shrugged, "I'm the undefeated heavyweight champ."

"They were probably innocent people. How could you just kill them like that?"

"I had no choice," Ava shook her head.

"Of course you had a choice. My dad once said, no one can control you but you," Sarah told her. Anger was rising up inside as she stared up at Ava.

"Hey, if I wanted to survive, I had to do it. After a while, it got easy," she explained. "It was even kind of fun."

"You sick, demented little…"

"Don't get mad at me. Isn't that all part of the game? The way I see it, we all have to face up to who we are and give into our abilities. You have no idea what you can do either. The learning curve is so fast, it's crazy. The switches that just flip on in your brain."

"Trust me, I know what I can do and there is no way I am giving into it. I may have demon blood but I will keep fighting it."

Ava laughed, "I can't believe I just started out just having dreams. Now look what I can do." She closed her eyes and held her fingers up to each side of her head. "Sorry, kid, but it's over." The black smoke appeared in the window again and sunk through it.

Sarah got ready to counter against it when Jake came up behind Ava and cracked her neck, letting her fall to the ground. Sam came up behind his niece, scaring the crap out of her and almost got elbowed in the gut before she realized who it was.

Sarah turned around and hugged his neck. Sam lifted her up, "It's okay, Peanut. Everything's gonna be okay," he assured her.

"I tried to protect Andy, Uncle Sam. I did. But Ava, she can control demons and it was just too fast for me." She squeezed his neck as Sam rubbed her back, up and down.

"It's okay, Peanut. You tried, that's all that matters. I want to save everyone too, you know that but we can at least try to save as much as we can."

Meanwhile, Dean drove up to a dead end. Unable to continue on wheels, he and Bobby packed up a couple shotguns from the trunk and continued the rest of the way on foot. The whole time, Dean kept thinking about his brother and daughter. He had to find them. He couldn't lose them, especially Sarah. Both hunters trudged into the woods and started their long hike, focused on the goal ahead.

Sam, Sarah, and Jake were hurrying down the steps of the house. "I think we can make it out of here now," Sam was saying as he descended the steps.

"But the Acheri demon…" Jake started to reply.

"No, no. Ava was summoning it," Sam told him, "controlling it. It shouldn't come back now that she's dead. We gotta go."

Sarah was hurrying to keep up with the men, "But what thee demon? He's not gonna let us out of here either. Not alive anyway."

"Sarah's right, Sam," Jake agreed.

Sam stopped to look back at the two of them.

"Only one of us is getting out of here," he said. "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I-I had a vision. That yellow-eyed demon or whatever Sarah said. He talked to me too. He told me how it was," he explained.

"No, no, Jake, you can't listen to him…" Sam tried to tell Jake.

"Sam, he's not letting us go. Only one. Now, if we don't play along, he'll kill us all. Now, I-I like you, man. I do. But do the math here. What good's it do for both of us to die? I can get out of here. I can get close to the bastard."

"It's not that simple, Jake," Sarah told him. "You can't just kill him that easily. And besides, no one has to die anyway. We can all work together."

"How do I know either of you won't turn on me?" Jake looked between Sam and Sarah.

"We won't," Sam tried to assure him.

Jake shook his head, "I don't know that."

Sam stared at him for a moment before he told him, "Okay. Look." He held his hands up and took a knife from where he had it hanging in his belt and placed it, slowly on the ground. Sam nodded for his niece to do the same.

Sarah looked between her uncle and Jake, not wanting to put the bar down. She looked up at Sam who raised his eyebrows at her, and she tossed it on the ground with his knife.

"Just come with us, Jake," Sam told him. "Don't do this. Don't play into what it wants."

Jake had been watching them the entire time. He jerked his head back and finally nodded before placing his own iron bar on the ground.

Sam relieved, stole a look at his niece who looked up at him. Suddenly, he was sent, flying backwards, into the air and crashed through a wooden fence, landing on the ground.

Sarah tried to reach down for her iron bar but was sent backwards as well, hitting her head. Everything was pitch blackness until she was finally able to come to again. She lifted her head, holding the back of it as she heard her father call out for her and Sam. She looked up suddenly when she heard him tell Sam to look out and saw Jake stab Sam in the back and run off. A surge of hatred and vengeance rose up, inside her as Dean yelled out a long, "NO!"

Sarah jumped to her feet and ran after Jake. Bobby tried to run after Jake as well, but Jake was younger and faster than he was. Sarah, on the other hand, felt a wave of adrenaline course through her body and sped after him, chasing Jake into the woods.

Jake stopped in the middle of the woods, trying to catch his breath and looked back as Sarah stopped in her tracks. He shook his head, "What? You're gonna kill me?" Jake smiled. "You're unarmed."

Sarah whipped out her pistol from behind her, holding it up to the grown man, cocking it. Jake stared at it in surprise. "No one searched me or asked if I had anything else," she glared.

"So use it then," he urged her. "I killed your uncle, didn't I?"

Sarah's hands started to shake as she held her pistol in her hands. Tears ran down both sides of her cheeks as the image of Jake stabbing her uncle replayed and her father's cries echoed throughout her mind. "We…were…trying t-to help all of y-you. But no, you… you and Ava… You just had to give into the demon. I c-can understand how manipulative he can be, but… Why couldn't you just hold on just a little longer? Why do you have to be so selfish?"

Jake shook his head. "I wasn't about to let myself die, kid. No matter who I had to kill, I had to do what I did."

Sarah tightened her fingers around the handle and her pointer finger fought against the urge to press the trigger. She couldn't stand to lose someone else she loved. First her father came to a couple scares. Then her grandfather died. Now her uncle? She dropped to her knees in the dirt, holding the pistol on the ground, crying as her chest rapidly moved in and out. It hurt so bad to lose her grandfather and uncle as she tried to gasp for air.

She looked back over her left shoulder when she heard her father calling out for her from a distance. Jake tried to reach for the pistol but Sarah caught him out of the corner of her eye and grabbed the gun up and shot the man where he stood.

Jake dropped back, onto the ground, not moving.

Sarah stared at him in horror of what she had done. She backed away, dropping the gun at her side. Turning on her heels, Sarah sprinted through the forest, towards the direction she had heard her father yell for her, tripping over a tree root. She hadn't noticed her PSP that she had inside her jacket fall out when she fell herself and just kept running.

A wall of fire suddenly appeared, blocking her path. She looked around and saw she was surrounded. Soon, everything went black again.

After taking care of Sam's limp body, placing him on a bed in one of the houses, Dean and Bobby went out in search for Sarah. They headed into the woods since that was where Bobby had seen her and Jake disappear to. They scoured every branch and leaf for Sarah, not finding her anywhere.

Dean's heart was racing as he frantically searched everywhere for her. He had just lost his brother. He wasn't about to lose his daughter as well. Even if it took all night, Dean was going to find Sarah, no matter what.

"Sarah!" he called out. "Sarah, where are you!" His grip tightened around the shotgun in his hands as he shoved tree limbs out of his way.

Bobby could see how worked up the young man was getting. "Don't worry, Dean," he assured him. "We'll find her."

"Oh, you bet we will." Dean kept going until he heard a gunshot off in the distance. He and Bobby ran towards it until a wall of fire had appeared a yard away. That wasn't about to stop Dean though and he continued running.

Bobby ran after him and grabbed him from the back and tried to hold him back. "Dean, its suicide," he said the same thing Dean had once told Sam a year ago.

"I don't care!" he roared at the older man. "My daughter might be in there!"

Bobby just wouldn't ease off. "What good are ya to her if you're dead?" he asked of him.

Dean struggled some more until the fire vanished as fast as it had appeared. Bobby let him go and Dean took off at the fastest sprint he had ever run. He came to where the base of the fire was and looked around. Sarah was nowhere in sight. Walking a few more feet, he felt something underneath his foot and looked down before picking up his daughter's PSP.

He stared in horror at what was left of it. The game device was charred and the screen had melted. Dean flipped it over and saw the Pikachu sticker half burned away. Tears filled his eyes as they glossed over. A tear managed to escape and ran, slowly down the right side of his face. Not only was his little brother gone but his baby girl was gone as well…


	78. Chapter 77

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 77

Dean stood there, leaning in the doorway as he stared at his brother's lifeless body. He had lost the two most important people in his life, who he had tried so hard to protect. Dean figured he would be all right if it had been just Sam who had died, because he would have his little girl to help him through it but no, both Sam _and _Sarah had to die.

He thought about how alone he felt now that he had lost his father, brother, and daughter. More importantly, he thought about how he had failed as a father. Dean had tried so hard to protect his daughter the most. Sarah was the one person who actually had understood him the most, was the most like him, his spitting image. Dean tried to hold the tears back but the more he thought about his daughter being gone for good, the more it grew harder to stifle them. The tears finally won the battle and floated, gently down his face which he tried to wipe away. They just kept coming.

Eventually, Bobby had returned from picking up something to eat. "Dean," he called as he came through the door and closed it behind him, holding up a bucket of chicken. "Brought you this back."

Dean had looked over at him and looked back at Sam. "No thanks. I'm fine," he replied, quietly. Dean didn't think he would ever eat again. It felt like a part of him had died too.

Bobby had walked over to the room behind Dean, setting the bucket of chicken on a table. He looked over at Dean, "You should eat something."

"I said I'm fine," Dean repeated, some annoyance apparent in his voice, and stood up straight to turn around and walk over there himself, only to take a long drink on his beer.

Bobby stood beside the young man, watching him until Dean stopped and placed it back on the table. "Dean," he said, looking down at the table. "I hate to bring this up, I really do. But don't you think it's time…we bury Sam?"

Dean stared at the table before he looked over at Bobby, "No," he told the older man and sat down.

Bobby shrugged, not knowing what else to say, "Well, we could maybe…like Sarah was."

"What, torch his corpse?" Dean stared up at Bobby and shook his head, "Not yet."

Bobby leaned forward, looking back at Dean, "I want you to come with me."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "I'm not going anywhere," he told him and leaned forward on his forearms, staring down at the table again.

"Dean, I understand you just lost not only your brother, your daughter as well. But I don't think you should be alone over this." Bobby stood up, straight again. "I gotta admit I could use your help."

Dean scoffed, looking away.

"Something big is going down," he paused before continuing. "End-of-the-world big."

"Well, then let it end!" Dean yelled in frustration.

Bobby stared at the young man, shocked. "You don't mean that," he said.

Dean stood up, knocking his chair back onto the floor and walked around to face Bobby, standing close to him. "You don't think so?" he asked.

Bobby stood there with his mouth open. He couldn't believe how worked up Dean was over this. Actually, thinking about it. Sarah was his daughter and he figured any parent would probably feel like the world was over so Bobby pulled back on the shock he had as Dean told him, "You don't think I given enough? You don't think I paid enough? My baby girl…I'm done with it. All of it. If you knew what's good for you, you'd turn around and get the hell out of here."

Dean turned to walk away, and then when Bobby didn't move, he shoved him back. "Go!" he told him, loudly.

Bobby continued to stand there, his heart breaking as he watched Dean slowly fall apart. His eyes watered a bit but did not shed a tear. It was painful to watch him but it was even more painful to lose both Sam and Sarah himself. Sam was like a son to him like Dean was. Bobby had helped John raise those boys whether John wanted to admit it or not. He was mostly there for them. Because of that, it felt like Sarah was his own granddaughter. He loved her as much as he loved Sam and Dean. Sarah had defiantly became a part of his heart and it hurt to know she wouldn't come stay with him anymore and help under a hood or toss a ball around.

Finally, Dean apologized and asked him to just leave, walking over to lean on the back of the chair after picking it up.

Bobby turned around with his back to Dean. "You know where I'll be," he told Dean before leaving Dean to his own thoughts again.

Dean looked over at Sam before staring down at the table as another tear fell. Taking another drink of his beer, he pulled a chair over to sit beside his brother just to watch him. After half an hour of silence, he spoke as if Sam and Sarah could hear him, "You know, when we were little, Sam…and you couldn't have been no more than five…you just started asking questions. How come we didn't have a mom? Why we always have to move around? Where'd Dad go? He'd take off for days at a time. I could never take off and leave you like that, Baby Girl. I couldn't just leave you in a motel room by yourself."

Another tear fell as he continued. Dean tried to focus on Sam but, remembering when they were kids and how he tried to keep Sam a kid as long as possible, his mind always wandered back to Sarah. "Even teaching you how to be a hunter, I wanted you to be a kid as long as you possibly could. Just like Dad said, Baby Girl. Just because you're a hunter, doesn't mean you had to grow up fast. But even making that promise to him, you still continued to grow up too fast. I had my mind set on trying to protect you, keep you safe…I fought on you hunting. I should have just left you with Bobby."

Dean leaned forward, staring at the floor. "I really didn't mind the backseat a mess, you know. It reminded me a kid sat back there. My kid." His voice started to crack a little. "The first time you called me, Dad is when it finally hit me and things changed. That first hunt of yours, I know you tried so hard to do a good job, and then I pushed you to talk to me and you wouldn't…"

He sniffed in, "I'm not going to lie, it hurt for my own kid to not want to confide in me but I didn't want to push you away. So I waited and let you come to me. I never dreamed you would hold everything in like I do. Guess that would be expected, not only having me as a dad, but those other people treating you like crap. And that day you told me what they did to you, Baby Girl." Dean shook his head, his eyes closed, "I wanted to punch them all in the face, especially your grandfather. You're my kid and no one else's. My responsibility, you and Sam both. Like I had one job. That one job."

Dean looked over at Sam, "And I screwed it up." He looked down at the floor again. "I blew it," he said. "And for that, I'm sorry, Baby Girl." A tear dropped from his right eye, onto the floor. He wiped the rest away and shrugged, "I guess that's what I do," forcing a smile. "I let down the people I love."

He leaned his hand to his forehead, "I let Dad down. I let Sammy down." Dean leaned on his elbow, using his same hand to lean against his mouth. "And now, I guess I'm just supposed to let you down too?" He shook his head, "how can I? How am I supposed to live with that?" It was silent for a few second before Dean asked, "What am I supposed to do?"

More tears filled his eyes as they glossed over, making it hard for him to see. "Baby Girl," he said, quietly. Dean's lower lip quivered as he looked at Sam. His heart was breaking with each passing moment, longing to hold his daughter one last time. "What am I supposed to do?" he muttered to himself and slowly rose to his feet, not taking his eyes off of his brother until he yelled out, "What am I supposed to do?"

Dean stormed from the house and through the woods until he came to where he had parked the Impala. Yanking his door open, Dean got in and sped to the nearest crossroads and opened the trunk, putting together a small wooden box of stuff he needed to summon the crossroads demon, including one of his IDs before taking the box over to the center.

Kneeling in the dirt, Dean began to dig a small hole big enough to fit the box inside and buried it. He then stood up and looked down each direction. No one appeared. "Oh, come on already," he said to himself as he looked around some more and raised his voice, "Show your face, you bitch." His heart was beating fast as he waited in anticipation. He just wanted ten years. That was what Sarah had left of her childhood. Just ten more years and Dean wanted to continue to watch her grow.

He didn't have that long to wait. "Easy, sugar," a deep woman's voice said behind him, "you'll wake the neighbors."

Dean turned around to see a woman with black, curly hair standing there. Her eyes turned black for a second to show she was in deed a demon.

"Dean," she grinned and looked him up and down. "It is so, so good to see you." The woman walked closer to him, "I mean it. Look at you." She stopped right in front of him, looking up. "Gone and got your family killed. All alone in the world." She snickered to herself, "It's too sweet."

The crossroads demon walked over to stand next to Dean on his right-hand side, inching her neck towards him, "Excuse me, you're gonna have to give me a moment. Sometimes you gotta stop and smell the roses."

Dean looked over at her. "I should send you straight back to hell," he threatened.

She breathed in, quickly, "Oh, you should. But you won't." The woman walked around behind him. "And I know why," she said.

He looked at the ground before turning around, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Following in Daddy's footsteps. You wanna make a deal. Little Sammy, back from the dead. And let me guess, you're offering up your own soul." The woman shrugged.

Dean shook his head, "No. My daughter. She has ten years left of her childhood. We'll go off somewhere, quit hunting, give her a normal life. Then Sarah will be grown up and on her own, possibly go away to college where she can't see your hellhounds come after me."

The crossroads demon smirked.

"Come on. It's a fair deal," Dean tried to make her agree.

"I'm afraid I can't bring your daughter back," she told him.

Dean stared at her. "Why not?" he demanded.

But she didn't say anything.

"Look, Sarah and I will quit hunting, I swear. We won't exorcise another demon. Just bring her back. Please." Dean could feel his pulse racing and emotions reach record height. "I can't live another second without her. Please, just bring her back and in ten years you can have me."

"You can keep begging like a pathetic puppy dog but nothing will change. It is not in my power or authority to bring little Sarah back," she shrugged.

Dean took a deep breath in through his nose as he glared at her. "Fine. Then bring Sam back and just take me now," he finally said. If the crossroads demon couldn't bring his daughter back then Dean didn't even want to live anymore, himself. "Other demons would love to get their hands on me. My soul's all yours. All you gotta do is bring Sam back. You don't even have to wait ten years."

The crossroads demon tilted her head a little, "You must be joking."

"It's a better deal you give everybody else."

"That is true," she shrugged at him and stepped closer to him again. "But why would I do anything for you?" There was a short pause before she said into his left ear, "Keep your gutter soul. It's too tarnished for me anyway." The crossroads demon walked around him to leave. "Make sure you bury Sam before he starts stinking up the joint."

Dean looked ahead. He couldn't live another moment knowing his daughter was gone. Maybe the reason the crossroads demon couldn't was because Sarah's body had burned up, so there wouldn't be a body for Sarah to return to. Right? Dean just didn't think about that. Or just didn't want to. Either way, he couldn't just keep going without her. It was either make this deal and bring Sam back or end it himself, with a bottle of beer and his gun. It didn't matter to him but if he made this deal, at least someone would get a second chance at life.

He turned around on his heels, "Wait."

The crossroads demon stopped walking and smiled forward, "It's a fire sale and everything must go."

"What do I have to do?" Dean asked when she had turned back around to face him.

"First of all, quit groveling," she told him, walking towards him. "Needy guys are such a turnoff." The crossroads demon stepped even closer to him. "Look," she looked away for a second. "Look, I shouldn't be doing this. I could get into a lot of trouble."

She shook her head, "But what can I say? I got a blind spot for you, Dean." The crossroads demon breathed in, heavily. "You are like a puppy, you're too fun to play with," she told him and sighed. "I'll do it."

Dean nodded, "You'll bring him back?"

"I will," she said. "And because I'm a saint, I'll give you one year and one year only."

He shook his head, "No, no, no. I don't want any years. I'm barely lasting a second without my baby girl, much less a whole year."

The crossroads demon's grin was starting to widen and Dean couldn't figure out why. "And here's the thing. If you try and weasel your way out, the deal is off. That goes to you trying to end it yourself before the year is up. Sam drops dead, and he's back to rotten meat in no time. So? It's a better deal than your dad ever got," she shrugged and watched him for a couple seconds. "What do you say?"

Dean paused to think on that. He couldn't live a whole year without his little girl. There was just no way. Why did Sarah's body have to burn? Why couldn't Dean get there on time? He couldn't help but think of how much he had failed as a father. For letting something like this happen. And now he was supposed to live a year without her? He'd rather take hell over living without his daughter any day. But what choice did he have? Dean grabbed the crossroads demon and kissed her. He tried to enjoy it but all he could think of was the long year ahead and soon, she was gone.

He stood there for a long time as tears fell from his eyes again. "I'm so sorry, Baby Girl," he said, quietly. "I am so sorry. I tried."

Not even bothering to dig up the box, he stumbled back to the Impala and slid into the driver's seat. Dean looked up into the rear-view mirror and imagined his little girl sitting there, playing with her toys and pounded the top of the steering wheel with both hands. This was not what he had come here for. Now he had to live a year without the most important person he cared about. Yeah, he was glad to have one more year with his brother but what parent wanted their child to die before they did?

Dean laid his forehead against the steering wheel, between his hands and cried like a baby, not even caring who saw him. Sarah was gone and there was nothing he could do about it. He sat there for a good forty-five minutes before starting the engine and driving back closest to the town he could get, then walked the rest of the way. The whole time, all Dean could think about was Sarah.

When he walked up the steps and went through the door, he found Sam sitting there already digging into the food. Sam and Dean stared at each other before Dean rushed right over and hugged his brother around the neck when Sam stood up. Dean had to stop when Sam stated he was a little sore in the back.

They sat down and Sam asked what had happened.

"Well, what do you remember?" Dean asked him.

"I-I saw you and Bobby and… Then I felt this pain. This sharp pain, like white hot, you know. And then you started running at me and that's about it," he explained what he remembered.

"Yeah, that kid stabbed you in the back," Dean told him. "You lost a lot of blood. You know, it was pretty touch and go for a while."

"But Dean, you can't patch up a wound that bad," said Sam.

"No, Bobby could," he lied to his brother. Sam couldn't know the truth of what Dean had just done. Dean was going to take that secret to the grave. "Who was that kid anyway?"

"His name's Jake." Sam suddenly looked at his brother, changing tones, "Did you get him?"

"No, Sarah chased him into the woods." Dean looked at the floor, unable to make any form of eye contact and tried his hardest not to cry again.

Sam realized his niece wasn't around. "Wait, where is Sarah?" he asked.

Dean didn't answer. He couldn't even lift his head.

"No," he said. "No. Did Jake…?"

"We don't know what happened," Dean shrugged, still not looking up. "I followed them into the woods while Bobby patched you up. There was this gunshot. Then this big fire…." He trailed off, a tear escaping his eye. "All I could find was her video game."

Sam stared in horror at his brother. "You mean…?"

Dean ran his right hand down his face, wiping away the tears as Sam watched him.

"You said there was a gunshot?" Sam finally asked.

Dean nodded.

"How? No one here had a gun. We all had to make do with what was lying around."

"When Bobby and I first got here, I noticed Sarah's gun was missing from the trunk when we were grabbing the shotguns. She must have still had it from that hunt in Oregon we finished a couple days ago," Dean explained.

"You think maybe Sarah could have shot Jake?" asked Sam.

He shrugged.

"I mean, Sarah had a hard time before so why would she shoot another person?"

Dean finally looked up at his brother. "She saw her uncle get stabbed, Sam. Wouldn't that be enough to kill someone? Remember, she has yours and Dad's taste for vengeance. It probably drove her over the edge."

"So do you think Sarah might still be out there?"

"Didn't you hear me, Sam?" Dean asked. "There was a fire in the middle of the woods and all I could find was her video game, melted and burnt to a crisp. I barely made out the sticker on the back."

"But what if Sarah had dropped it when she was escaping?" Sam shrugged. "What if she didn't die in the fire?"

He shook his head, looking at the floor again. Dean wanted so desperately to believe that. Even if it were true, Dean would be so pissed because if Sarah was alive, then there was no reason to sell his soul.

The brothers finished off the chicken as Sam got Dean up to speed on what had happened. "Demon said he only wanted one of us to walk out alive," Sam told him.

"He told you that?" asked Dean.

"Yup," he replied. "According to Sarah, the demon wanted her to be the one, but the demon also told me, I was the one he was betting on, appearing in a dream."

"He tell you anything else?"

Sam shook his head, "No. No, that was it, nothing else." It seemed like he was hiding something, but Dean didn't say anything. "We gotta find that son of a bitch demon. For Mom and Dad, and now Sarah."

"Hold on there, all right?" Dean told him. "I want to avenge our family too but first, you need to get your rest. We got time."

"No, we don't," Sam shook his head.

"Sam, oceans aren't boiling, okay? Frogs aren't raining from the sky. Let's get you your strength back first."

Sam looked down at his food for a few seconds then returned his attention back to his brother. "Well, did you call the Roadhouse? They know anything?"

It came rushing back to Dean. With what had happened the past night, he had forgotten about the Roadhouse. "Yeah," he stood up, forcing a smile but didn't say anything else as he stared at the floor again.

"Dean, what is it?" Sam urged his brother.

Dean looked up at him and walked over to sit across from Sam, picking up a bottle of soda. "The Roadhouse burned to the ground. Ash is dead. Probably Ellen, a lot of other hunters too." He took a swig of his drink.

Sam couldn't believe what his brother had just told him. He looked around at the table in front of him before he asked, "Demons?"

"Yeah, we think so," Dean set the soda back on the table. "We think because Ash found something."

"What did he find?"

Dean shook his head, looking away, "Bobby's working on that right now."

"Well, come on then," Sam made to stand up, painfully. "Bobby's only a few hours away."

Dean stood up and hurried over to stop him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," he told him. "Stop, Sam. Damn it." He stared at his younger brother. "You almost died in there. I mean, I lost my little girl. What would I have…?" Dean stopped in mid-sentence when Sam looked up at him. "Can't you just take care of yourself for a little bit, huh? Just for a little bit?"

"I'm sorry," Sam told him, quietly. "No."

Dean shook his head at him and smiled. Truth was Dean was itching to get out there and figure out what the heck was going on and kill that yellow-eyed demon once and for all, for what he had done to his family.


	79. Chapter 78

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 78

Sam and Dean headed straight for Bobby's house, going as fast they could. When Bobby answered the door, it was like he was looking at a ghost. He couldn't believe Sam was alive. It was impossible. The young man was dead, past his expiration date. Bobby could take a wild guess what had happened and wanted to tear Dean a new one, but didn't say anything as he let the boys in and got down to business.

"Well, I found something," Bobby was explaining to them. "But I'm not sure what the hell it means."

Sam asked, "What is it?"

"Demonic omens," he replied. "Like a frigging tidal wave. Cattle deaths, lightning storms. They've skyrocketed from out of nowhere. Here." Bobby laid out a map on the table, in the middle of the men, circling around Wyoming with his finger, "All around here. Except for one place. Southern Wyoming," he made a small circle around the lower, left corner of Wyoming.

Dean questioned, "Wyoming?"

Bobby looked up at him, "Yeah, that one area's totally clean." He looked over at Sam, "Spotless."

Dean looked back down at the map.

"It's almost as if…"

Sam asked, "What?"

"…the demons are surrounding it," he told them.

"But you don't know why?" Dean shook his head.

Bobby stood up, straight, "No, and by this point my eyes are swimming. Sam, would you take a look at it? Maybe you could catch something I couldn't."

"Yeah, sure," he agreed.

Bobby stared over at Dean, picking up a bag on his left shoulder, "Come on, Dean. I got some more books in the truck. Help me lug them in." He walked around Sam and headed for the front door.

Dean had a feeling he knew what Bobby really wanted to do but agreed anyway. "Yeah," he said, following Bobby outside where they were isolated from Sam.

Once outside, Bobby turned on Dean, "You stupid ass. What did you do?" he demanded of him, angrily.

Dean looked back, over his shoulder, at the house, not saying a word.

Bobby grabbed the front of his jacket, "What did you do?"

Dean still didn't say anything. He couldn't even make eye contact.

"You made a deal," Bobby realized. "For Sam, didn't you?"

Still no response.

"How long they give you?"

"Bobby," Dean looked away.

"How long?" he demanded the loudest, so far.

Dean looked back at the older hunter and swallowed a lump in his throat. "One year," he finally said.

"Damn it, Dean," Bobby told him.

"I tried bringing Sarah back, Bobby." Dean's voice started cracking again as his eyes filled up once more. "But I couldn't. They wouldn't do it, because there wasn't a body left. I didn't want a year. I wish to God I could just die right now. The only thing I want to do right now is hunt down that yellow-eyed son of a bitch. That's why I'm gonna kill him myself. I mean, I got nothing to lose now, right?"

Bobby grabbed him by the front of his jacket again, pulling him close to his face, "I could throttle you."

"And send me downstairs ahead of schedule?" Dean asked of him. "'Cause right now, I would appreciate that."

Bobby shook his head at Dean as he stared at him. He let him go. "What is it with you Winchesters, huh?" he questioned. "You, your dad, you're both just itching to throw yourselves down the pit."

"That's my point," Dean told him, "Dad brought me back, Bobby. I'm not even supposed to be here. At least this way, something good could come out of it, you know. Like my life can mean something."

"What, and it didn't before? Have you got that low of an opinion of yourself?" Bobby grabbed his jacket a third time, "Are you that screwed in the head?"

Both of them were silent for a moment before Dean said, "I can't live without her, Bobby. I just can't," he shook his head. "She's my baby girl. If I couldn't save her, I may as well save my brother. I couldn't let both of them die."

"How is your brother gonna feel if he knows you're going to hell? How would your daughter feel if she knew you tried to go for her? How did you feel when you knew your dad went for you?"

"You can't tell him," Dean said. "You take a shot at me, whatever you gotta do. But please don't tell him."

Bobby looked down, trying hard not to cry himself and just placed his left hand against the side of Dean's face. No one said a word. A clattering noise was heard nearby, getting the men's attention. After exchanging looks between them, they headed over to investigate, hiding behind an old, rusted car, missing some parts and waited for a bit before jumping out and grabbing someone.

"Ellen?" Dean asked, surprised to see the Roadhouse's owner and hugged her, tightly. "Ellen. Oh, God." They quickly headed back inside Bobby's house where Bobby had her drink some holy water to make sure it was her. Thankfully, it really was Ellen.

"Ellen, what happened?" Dean asked her, "how'd you get out?"

"I wasn't supposed to," she admitted. "I was supposed to be in there with everybody else." Ellen scoffed, "But we ran out of pretzels, of all things. Was just dumb luck." Bobby had pushed a glass of whiskey over to her and Ellen drank it down. "Anyway, that's when Ash called, panic in his voice."

She took a deep breath, letting it out, "He told me to look in the safe. Then the call cut out. By the time I got back, the flames were sky high." Ellen felt like she wanted to cry and it was apparent in her voice. "Everybody was dead. I couldn't have been gone more than fifteen minutes," she shook her head over at Bobby.

"Sorry, Ellen," Sam told her.

Ellen was staring at the table in front of her, "A lot of good people died in there. I got to live," she sniffed in. "Lucky me."

No one said a word for a moment until Bobby broke it. "Ellen, you mentioned a safe," he said.

"A hidden safe we keep in the basement," she explained.

"Demons get what was in it?"

"No." Ellen pulled a map out from inside her jacket and opened it up, placing it flat down on the table to show the men.

The three of them looked at it.

Dean questioned, "Wyoming?" and traced his fingers around the map. "What does that mean?" He looked up at Ellen and Bobby before they started searching through Bobby's library.

"Where's Sarah?" Ellen asked as they were standing up.

Dean didn't answer. He just buried himself in the research while Sam told her what he knew and what Dean had told him. Ellen pretty much lost it when she heard Sarah was gone as Sam held her.

Eventually, Bobby found what they were looking for. "I don't believe it," he said, looking through one of his books as he walked into the study and set the book open on the table beside where Dean was sitting.

"What, you got something?" Sam asked, walking up beside Bobby.

"A lot more than that," he replied as Ellen rejoined them. He pointed at each X Ash had drawn on the map, "Each of these X's is an abandoned frontier church, all mid-19th century. And all of them built by Samuel Colt."

"Samuel Colt?" Dean asked. "The demon-killing, gun-making Samuel Colt?"

Sam looked over at his brother as Bobby replied, "Yup."

"And there's more," Bobby continued. "He built private railway lines connecting church to church. That just happen to lay out like this." He drew a star, connecting the X's to each other with a black, permanent marker.

"Tell me that's not what I think it is," Dean said as he stared at the map.

"It's a devil's trap," said Sam, looking over at him.

Dean placed his hand over his mouth, leaning on the same elbow.

Sam looked over at Bobby, "A hundred-square mile devil's trap."

"That's brilliant," Dean stated, impressed. "Iron lines, demons can't cross."

Ellen added, "I never heard anything that massive."

"No one has," said Bobby.

"All these years none of the lines have been broken," Dean asked. "I mean, it still works?"

Realization hit Sam. "Definitely," he said.

"How do you know?" Dean asked his brother.

"All those omens Bobby found. I mean, the demons, they must be circling and they can't get in."

"Yeah, well, they're trying," Bobby said.

"Why, what's inside?" Ellen asked him.

"Well, that's what I've been looking for," Dean answered, "and, uh, there's nothing except for an old cowboy cemetery right in the middle." He pointed in the center of Wyoming.

Bobby leaned on the table as Sam asked, "Why? What's so important of a cemetery? Or, what's Colt trying to protect?"

"Well, unless…" Dean started to say.

Bobby asked, "Unless what?"

"What if Colt wasn't trying to keep the demons out?" Dean looked over at him. "What if he was trying to keep something in?"

"Now, that's a comforting thought," said Ellen.

"Yeah, you think," he agreed.

"Could they do it, Bobby?" Sam asked Bobby. "Could they get inside?"

Bobby shook his head, "This thing's so powerful you'd practically need an A-bomb to destroy it. No way a full-blood demon gets across."

Sam thought on that. "No," he finally said, quietly. "But I know who could." Sam looked over at Dean. "Someone else survived besides me, Dean. Either Jake or Sarah is out there somewhere and the yellow-eyed demon has them. Otherwise, it would have taken me."

Dean looked back down at the map. He wanted to believe it to be true. That his daughter was somewhere out there. He wanted to hope so badly but on the other hand, if Sarah was alive, he would regret making that deal, even if it was for his brother.

The sun was high in the sky but was hidden behind several clouds that covered the whole thing. Sarah stirred, opening her eyes and sat up quick from her nightmare of watching her grandfather in hell. She looked around at her surroundings, not knowing where she was. Beside her was a set of iron train tracks.

A voice startled her from a couple feet away. "Howdy, Sarah," the yellowed-eyed demon greeted her with a smile. "Have a nice, restful sleep?"

Sarah rose to her feet, slowly as she eyed him, carefully. "What do you think?" she asked, defensively. "Where am I now? Where's my dad?"

"If I were you, I'd worry about yourself," he told her.

"If I were you, I would start talking or else!" Sarah warned him.

"I need you to do me a favor," he smirked.

"And why would I do you any favors?" she asked.

The yellow-eyed demon walked closer to her. "Remember, I basically gave you your daddy, I can take him away. I made him choke on his intestines once, I can do it again and this time, dear, ol'Grandpappy won't be there to save him."

Sarah felt her fists clench at her side. "You wouldn't," she glared at him.

"Wanna place that bet?" he asked and winked at her.

For her father's protection, Sarah gave in but didn't enjoy it or did she ease off. "What is it you want me to do?" she asked.

"Fifty miles, thataway," the yellow-eyed demon pointed over on the other side of the train tracks, off in the distance. There's a cemetery, a crypt. You gotta open that for me. Think you could manage that, sport?"

"Why do you want me to do that?"

The yellow-eyed demon looked to be offended and saddened at the little girl's question. "Sarah, I thought you would want a chance to free your grandpa from hell."

Sarah stared at him, "What?"

"I like you, Sarah. I really do and what better way to earn your trust, then by helping your grandpa get out of hell. I know how."

Sarah looked at him, sideways. She wasn't sure she could trust him, after all, it was the demon who put John there in the first place.

He smiled at her, "What do you say, Sarah? Ready to rescue your grandfather?"

Sarah folded her arms tightly, across her chest. "Why should I trust you for? How do I know this isn't a trick?"

The yellow-eyed demon stepped even closer to her until they were a foot apart. "If you don't do this, remember what will happen to your daddy," he reminded her.

Sarah glared up at the demon, wanting to rip his heart out. That is, if he even had one. "Fine," she gave in, reluctantly.

He stepped back, a couple steps as he smirked, "Good." The yellow-eyed demon then pulled out the Colt. "But you will need a key," he told her and held it out to her, who stared at it then back at him. "Go ahead. Take it."

Sarah reached out and took the Colt by the thin barrel and looked at it, in her hands before pointing it at the yellow-eyed demon. She cocked it back.

"Oh my," the yellow-eyed demon said, sarcastically. "I'm shocked at this unforeseen turn of events. Guess I should have mentioned your daddy was already dead, along with all the other people you've come to love." He shrugged, "But I guess you could always go back to living with what's their names… the Holdens, was it? Bet you didn't know your other grandpappy saw your daddy on the news during that bank robbery, did ya? Oh, boy, is he pissed. But I guess everything will be fine. After all, they love you too, don't they?"

Sarah stood there, trying not to believe the yellow-eyed demon. It couldn't be true. Her father, Bobby, Ellen, Jo…even Ash. They couldn't be dead. They just couldn't. She tightened her grip around the handle in the same position as the night before. Her finger fought hard to pull the trigger.

"If you do as I say, I will give you your grandfather back. Put the natural order of life back in place and if you want, you both can come hunt me down. I just need you to do me this one, teensy, little favor."

Sarah ended up, giving in, revenge blocking out the logic that the demon could have been lying to her. If it were true, Sarah wasn't about to go back to the Holdens. Not after everything she's been through. No, she was getting at least one of her family back.

She lowered the gun and stared at him.

"That's a good girl," he smirked at her.

Sarah turned and started heading over the train tracks. She stole one last look over her left shoulder to find the yellow-eyed demon gone and faced forward again, taking a deep breath in and let it out. This was for her grandfather. She could do this.

It took the rest of the day to walk all the way to the cemetery. Sarah gripped the Colt in her hand. Now and then, she would stare it and remembered when her and her family fought through that vampire nest to get it. To Sarah, that was her favorite hunt. Not because of the vampires, not because she got to decapitate one, but because her family was somewhat whole. Sarah, her father, her uncle, and her grandfather, they did it together. Now her uncle was dead, her grandfather was being tortured in hell, and there was a good chance her father was dead too.

Tears filled her eyes as Sarah thought of that possibility. She didn't want it to be true. She wanted her whole family back but would simply settle for just her father. Her hero. The person she loved the most.

"God, please forgive me for whatever I'm about to do," she prayed silently to herself. "I can't let my grandpa suffer any more."

Sarah continued her long walk until she arrived at the cemetery and looked around at all the graves until she came to a large old, iron door at the back of it. Taking another deep breath, she stepped up and shoved the Colt inside the perfectly-shaped keyhole for it.

A sound of a twig being stepped on, from the left side of Sarah, startled her, making her look in that direction. She expected it to be the yellow-eyed demon but instead saw her uncle, which surprised her a lot.

"Uncle Sam?" she questioned.

Sam lowered his gun, "Sarah?"

Sarah hurried over and hugged his legs as Bobby, Dean, and Ellen appeared from behind the gravestones. Dean was the last one to come out. His mouth hung open at the realization that his daughter was indeed still alive and started kicking himself for making that deal.

"How?…you…" Sarah was trying to tell Sam. "I saw Jake stab you in the back."

Sam smiled down at his niece, shaking his head over in Bobby's direction, "Yeah, well, Bobby was able to patch me up."

"Uncle Sam, I saw it happen. I heard Dad yell. You were dead. That's why I chased after Jake."

Sam looked over at Dean, making Sarah look over there too.

"Dad's alive too?" she asked.

Bobby nodded at the little girl and looked back at Dean who was frozen in place, still stunned. He knew the young man was kicking himself for it now.

Sarah sprinted over and Dean automatically lifted his daughter up, into his arms. They held each other tight. The reunion was cut short though when the lock on the iron door started turning fast. Sam hurried over and grabbed the Colt from it but that didn't stop the door from continuing to unlock.

"Oh no," Bobby mumbled out loud.

"Bobby, what is it?" Ellen asked him.

"It's hell," he replied. "Take cover now!"

Everyone ducked behind some gravestones. It seemed like someone or something was banging on the inside of the doors. The doors shot open as a bunch of black smoke came flying out. Thunder rumbled as lightning flashed in the sky as the train tracks surrounding it burned in one spot, breaking the devil's trap seal.

"What the hell just happened?" Dean roared out, clutching Sarah to him behind the gravestone he and Sam were crouching.

"That's a devil's gate," Ellen yelled back from behind hers and Bobby's gravestone. "A damn door to hell."

Dean wasn't the only one kicking himself now. Sarah was so blind with revenge, she didn't think this would happen. Why had she acted so stupid before? She looked up at her father, "I'm so sorry, Dad. I didn't…I'm sorry." Sarah hid her face in his side which he held her head to him. In his mind, Dean was actually apologizing to her for what he had done too.

Come on," Ellen yelled to them, "We gotta shut that gate!"

The five of them jumped up to their feet. Sam dropped the Colt as the four of them, excluding Dean ran over to press themselves against the doors.

Dean had picked the Colt up and checked inside to see it still had the one bullet left. "If the demon gave this to Sarah…then maybe…" He turned around where the yellow-eyed demon was standing there, behind him. Dean tried to aim the gun at him but the yellow-eyed demon levitated it over to him.

He smirked at Dean, "Boys shouldn't play with Daddy's guns."

Dean flew back into the air and landed on the ground, hitting his head on the gravestone beside him. He gasped in pain as the other four tried to shove the door closed.

Sarah noticed her father was nowhere around and looked over to see the yellow-eyed demon smirk at her and walk towards where her father lied on the ground. "Daddy!" she let go of the door and sprinted over. Sam followed too.

Both of them were pinned backwards, Sam against a tree and Sarah against a really tall gravestone as the yellow-eyed demon raised his hand without looking back. "I'll get to you two in a minute. But Sarah, I'm proud of you." He turned back to Dean, walking near him and looked down.

Dean was trying to struggle to his feet until he got pinned back to the gravestone.

"Sit a spell," the yellow-eyed demon told him and walked even closer to kneel in front of him. "So Dean, I gotta thank you for forming our little Sarah into the little soldier I knew she could be. I knew if I brought you two together, it would all work out in the end." He sneered at Dean, "Sarah, she's something all right, ain't she. Probably curious about her, huh? I personally like her better than all the rest, even Sam. I wasn't counting on you bringing him back. All I care about is Sarah."

"You sick, son of a bitch," Dean grumbled at the yellow-eyed demon.

He just shrugged. "So now you have a year to live. Sarah's not gonna be too happy to hear that, I bet. That's the trouble with her abilities," the yellow-eyed demon looked back at Sarah who was still pinned to the gravestone then back at Dean. "They can only come out, out of love."

Dean looked at him, confused.

"Come on, you're smarter than that, Dean," the yellow-eyed demon said. "Other than her visions, all of her abilities come out when someone she's loves or cares about is in danger. That's the key component." The demon stood up, still staring down at Dean. "And with you dead and out of the picture just think how much stronger they would be and in my army of followers. That's right, I can make her join me if I really wanted to. And it's all thanks to daddy's unending, devoted, emotional love for his little girl. But now, your work is done and it's time for me to take over."

The yellow-eyed demon raised the Colt at Dean's head and cocked it just as Dean looked over in time to see John appear out of black smoke. John grabbed the demon from the back and yanked out the demon's soul, struggling with it until it shoved John back, onto the ground.

Sarah couldn't believe it. So there was some truth to what the yellow-eyed demon had told her before. Something good had come out of what she had done and it relieved Sarah to no end as she watched her grandfather struggle with it. It scared her when John got shoved back and the demon returned to it's body but when she saw her father on his feet and aim the last bullet at the yellow-eyed demon, Sarah couldn't help but smile as she watched the life get sucked out of him and fall back onto the ground. She and Sam were released, and Bobby and Ellen were finally able to close the devil's gate.

Sam was the first to slowly rise to his feet, then John. Sarah stared at her grandfather as she rose to hers and leaned back against the gravestone. It felt different seeing him after witnessing the excruciating torture John had experienced. Dean was the last one on his feet and like Sarah, stared over at his father, walking closer to him as John moved closer to the yellow-eyed demon.

John smiled over at his oldest son as Dean just stood there, relieved to see his father one last time. John stepped even closer, placing a hand on his shoulder as Sam moved closer too. No one said anything as father and sons shared a quiet moment. Sarah, on the other hand, finally broke the silence.

She hurried over to them. "Grandpa!" she cried out.

John turned around to squat down a little to scoop his granddaughter up, into his arms. Sarah hugged his neck, tightly, hiding her face in her arms where he could hear her crying, softly. He rubbed her back, trying to calm her down.

"I saw everything," she whispered to him. "I saw the pain, the torture. I saw you in pieces."

"It's okay, sweetheart," John assured her, quietly. "It's over now. It's all over."

Sarah cried on her grandfather's shoulder, wetting his shirt with her tears. She mumbled something but no one could hear it since her words were muffled. Not even John could understand her.

"What, sweetheart?" he asked.

Sarah lifted her tear-stained, snot-covered face to repeat what she had mumbled before. "I said, are you back for good?"

Sam and Dean exchanged sad looks between themselves and looked back over at their father when he looked over at them.

John returned his focus to his granddaughter. "No, sweetheart. I have to pass over somewhere else," he explained to her.

"You mean heaven?" Sarah asked, wiping her nose on her jacket sleeve.

"Maybe," he shrugged.

"Okay. At least you won't be in anymore pain. Can you tell Grandma I said hello and that I love her?" Sarah gave in, reluctantly.

John smiled at his granddaughter, "I sure can."

Sarah hugged her grandfather's neck one last time. "And I love you, too, Grandpa. You're definitely my favorite grandfather."

That brought tears to John's eyes as he returned the hug. Neither one of them wanted to let go but knew the longer they prolonged this, the harder it would be so John kissed his granddaughter on the cheek and placed her down on her feet, in front of her father and gave his boys and Sarah one last smile to show how proud of them he was before backing away. In a flash, John Winchester was gone for the last time.

Sarah couldn't help a tear fall down her cheek before the three of them looked back down at the yellow-eyed demon.

Dean looked over at his brother. "Well check that off the to-do list," he grinned.

Sam smiled back at him, hardly able to contain himself, "You did it."

Dean looked back down at the demon then back at Sam, "I didn't do it alone."

Sam looked over at the devil's gate. "I can't believe Dad actually climbed out of hell," he said.

Dean smiled back at the devil's gate too, walking around the demon, "The door was open. If anyone's stubborn enough to do it…" he nodded over at his brother, "…it'll be him."

The Winchesters just stood there, staring at the demon's lifeless body. Sam kept shaking his head, "I kind of can't believe it, Dean. I mean…Our whole lives, everything, has been prepping for this. And now, I…" He shook his head some more. "I kind of don't know what else to say."

Dean looked over at him and forced a small smile, nodding, "I do." He looked back down and kneeled beside the demon to say, "That was for our mom," and paused before he added, "you son of a bitch." At that, Dean stood up and placed the Colt inside his jacket to lift Sarah up, into his arms to continue what was interrupted before.

Sarah hugged his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. After a few minutes, Dean carried his daughter where he had parked the Impala as Sam followed. He set her down on her feet.

"You know, when Sarah saw me, Dean, it was like she saw a ghost," Sam spoke up as he leaned against the hood of the Impala.

Sarah yawned, slightly. "Well, yeah because I saw you die, Uncle Sam. It looked like Jake cut right through your spinal cord," she told him. "Not even Uncle Bobby could patch that up."

"You must have seen wrong, Baby Girl," Dean assured her, leaning again his car door with his hands in his pockets.

"No, Dad, I didn't. I know what I saw and heard. Uncle Sam was dead," Sarah tried to argue with him.

"What happened, Dean?" Sam asked of his brother. "After I was stabbed."

Dean just looked at him, calmly, "I already told you."

Sam shook his head, "Not everything."

Dean stayed silent for a moment as he watched his brother before he stood up, turning slightly to face him. "Sam, we just killed the demon," he reminded him and shrugged, "Can't we celebrate for a minute?"

Sam hesitated at first. "Did I die? Like Sarah said."

He quickly looked away, grinning, "Oh, come on."

"Dad," Sarah spoke up, staring up at her father. "What did you do?"

Dean didn't answer his daughter. He couldn't even look her in the eye.

"Did you sell your soul for me?" Sam finally asked. "Like Dad did for you?"

Sarah quickly stepped back as she stared over at her father, "Dad, did you?"

"Come on," Dean told them. "No."

Sarah stepped forward again, towards her father and grabbed a handful of his shirt, trying to make eye contact with him. "Look me in the eye and say that," she told him.

Dean tried to look his daughter in the eye but found himself turning away.

Sarah let go of his shirt as tears filled up her eyes. "How long did they give you?" she asked.

Dean didn't respond.

"How long did they give you, Dad?!" Sarah raised her voice to her father.

Sam waited for an answer too.

"One year," Dean finally told them.

Sarah felt like she was suffocating as her chest rapidly moved. She stared up at her father. "How could you do that, Dad? After what you said about Grandpa doing the exact same thing?" she asked of him, not realizing she had tried to do basically the same thing with trying to bring her grandfather back.

"I thought you were dead, Baby Girl. I even tried to bring you back first."

"Yes, because that makes it so much better," she said, angrily.

"Don't get mad at me," he shook his head at his daughter. "Don't you do that. I had to. I had to look out for both of you, especially you. That's my job."

"What do you think my job is?" Sam asked his brother.

Dean looked over at him. "What?"

"You save our lives over and over. I mean, you sacrifice everything for Sarah and I. Don't you think I'd do the same for you? For Sarah?"

Dean looked away for a second as Sarah looked up at her uncle then at her father. "Same here," she agreed.

"You're my big brother," Sam concluded, "There's nothing I wouldn't do for you."

"I gave into the demon and risked the whole world to keep you safe," Sarah added.

Dean smiled at his brother and daughter's words.

"I don't care what it takes," said Sam. "I'm gonna get you out of this. Guess I gotta save your ass for a change."

"You mean, _we _gotta save Dad's ass," Sarah corrected her uncle who smiled at that, making her smile back at him.

At that point, Bobby and Ellen walked up to the Winchesters. "Well," said Ellen, "Yellow-eyed demon might be dead but a lot more got through that gate."

Sarah looked at the ground, ashamed.

"How many do you think?" Dean asked.

"A hundred," Sam guessed, not looking back at his brother. "Maybe two hundred. It's an army. He's unleashed an army."

"I'm really sorry about opening that gate and letting the demons out," Sarah told the adults, sadly. "The demon said it would only let Grandpa out. I wasn't thinking straight, I guess."

"It's okay, Baby Girl," Dean assured her, running his fingers through her hair. "We'll just put'em right back in."

Sarah smiled up at her father, knowing he was trying to make her feel better.

"Hope to hell you three are ready," Bobby told them. "Because the war's just begun."

"Well then…" Dean grinned as Sam looked back at him.

Opening the trunk, Dean pulled the Colt out of his jacket and tossed it inside. He looked over at his brother and niece, placing his hand on the trunk lid, "…we got work to do," and closed it.


	80. Chapter 79

**Wow, I can't believe we're in season three! Looking through the episodes, this is the shortest season of only fifteen episodes and I skip episodes, so this one shouldn't take as long. By the way, if some of you think this story is getting intense now, just wait until we get to season four and five. That's when it's gonna get even more intense. ;)**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 79

Sarah lied in the backseat, wiping her hands down her face while she and Sam waited in the Impala for Dean while he had some fun with a couple women he had met. It had been a week since the yellowed-eyed demon was finally killed. Sarah wished she could say she had restful nights now that her visions and nightmares were over but she can't. Now her dreams are of her losing her father and even though the hell-o-vision was gone, it didn't mean she didn't remember it. Hell sticks to you like a fly to flypaper. It never truly goes away.

Sam was in the front seat, looking through a book on crossroads demons. He and Sarah had been spending as much waking hours as they could, trying to find a way to get Dean out of his deal but so far, no cigar. "How you holding up, Peanut?" he asked over his shoulder at his niece.

Sarah continued wiping her hands across her face. "What do you think?" she snapped. Sarah had been a little on edge, the past week but tried to mask it to herself. It was getting quite difficult though, the last day.

"Sorry, Miss Grouchy," Sam replied, returning to his book.

She removed her hands to lift her head towards her uncle, "Hey, I have a right to be grouchy, okay? I lost my PSP for good, this time, I listened to a demon, set two hundred more demons free, and my dad is going to hell, a year after we got Grandpa out of hell. So yeah, okay?" Sarah lowered her head back down on the seat. "I swear. I want to castrate Dad with a pencil for making that deal for you…" she looked over at her uncle again long enough to say, "No offense" before returning to rub at her face.

Sam slumped in his seat, looking down at his book with his flashlight. "None taken," he told her. "By the way, I think that's impossible to use a pencil."

"Oh, I would find a way," she stated, "Trust me."

Sam's cell phone rang. He dug it out of his jeans pocket and answered it, "Hello?"

"Hey, Sam."

"Hey, Bobby," he replied.

"What ya doing?"

"You know, same old, same old," Sam shrugged.

"You and Sarah buried in that book again?" Bobby asked as he was driving. "Sam, you wanna break Dean free of that demon deal you ain't gonna find the answer in no book."

He sighed, "Then where, Bobby?"

"Kid, I wish I knew," Bobby shook his head. "How's Sarah holding up?"

"She wants to neuter her dad right now," he told him as he watched Dean's silhouette through the window.

"She wants to what?" Bobby asked, confused.

"Never mind."

"Well, you three better pack it up," he told Sam. "I think I finally found something." Bobby then told Sam where to meet him before they hung up.

Sam told Sarah to stay put while he fetched her father so they can go meet up with Bobby. Sarah held up a thumb's up while her other hand was covering her eyes. When her uncle returned, "Instead of knocking, you walked in on him, didn't you?" she asked.

Sam slowly shut his door as if he was traumatized. "I knocked…once."

"You knew what Dad was doing so don't expect pity from me." Sarah then lied back down.

"What ever happened to my adorable, compassionate niece I once knew?" he asked of her, leaning his left arm over the back of the front seat.

"She took a vacation, won't be back until Christmas of 2012," Sarah stated, turning her body to place a sock-covered foot on the back of the seat.

Sam just snickered to himself, looking forward, "Okay, Peanut. Whatever you say."

"Dude, don't make me have to castrate you with a pencil," she threatened her uncle, lifting her hand from her eyes to look up at him.

"Where did you even learn that?" he asked.

"TV," was all Sarah said until her father finally slid into the driver's seat and they were driving down the road. "Dad, you smell like sweat and shame," she told him, bitterly.

"And I need to use your knife," Sam added.

Dean looked over his brother, confused, "What for?"

"So I can gouge my eyes out," he replied.

Dean snickered at his brother and daughter as he heard Sarah repeat, "No pity, Uncle Sam." He looked in the rear-view mirror, "Sarah, put your foot down. It's right in my view to see behind me."

Sarah dropped her foot onto the backseat, forcefully.

"Why don't you go to sleep back there," Dean asked of her. "We have a long drive ahead of us and I don't feel like dealing with your little attitude you've been having lately."

Sarah tightly folded her arms across her chest as she flipped onto her right side, facing the back of the seat. "I don't like having to deal with yours either but we can't always get what we want," she mumbled to herself.

"What was that?" he asked, sternly.

"Nothing," she repeated.

Dean looked forward, leaning on the door. All the excitement he had from the fun experience he had gotten back there now was completely gone. He felt like a dick, having to leave his daughter in a year, and it hurt even more that so far, Sarah hadn't cuddled up with him or laughed with him. Dean wanted to spend enough bonding time in his last year as he possibly could but Sarah was shutting him out.

He turned to his brother and thanked him for giving him time to have some fun, though he did enjoy it, Dean would have rather go have some fun with his daughter instead. He tried getting Sarah to see if they could find a go-cart track, or go find an arcade or a Chuck E. Cheese, or something, even to go fishing at a lake. But Sarah just refused and kept her nose in one of her books.

While the brothers talked about what Bobby had found, they soon heard soft breathing and knew Sarah had fallen asleep. She had been trying to fight it but after reading for the majority of the day, her eyelids just couldn't stay open. Sam took a short nap before he and Dean switched so Dean could catch a few Z's.

Early the next morning, Sam pulled into the parking lot of a fast food place and parked. Dean slid out and opened the right, passenger door to slide into the backseat, leaning on his left knee to wake his daughter.

"Wake up, Baby Girl," he said, softly as he placed some of her hair behind her left ear. It took about five minutes before Sarah even stirred. "I know you're tired and all, but we still have a couple hours to go and I don't want to have to stop again until we get there," he told her when she moaned, half asleep.

Sarah opened her eyes, slowly and looked up to see her father smiling down at her.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," he said.

Sarah stared up at her father, wondering how many times she was going to wake up to her father like that. She wanted to smile back at him but knowing around this time, next year, he'll be gone. Sarah sat up and pushed him off.

Dean sat down on the seat and faced her. "I know you're mad and you have every right to be but Sarah, can't we make the most of our last year together? Please?" he asked.

Sarah threw on her boots that matched her father's, only kid-sized and tied the laces. She didn't respond to him, not even looking up. Even though she did want to have some fun with her father, Sarah couldn't get up the excitement to have any. She had finally found the one person she could relate to and he goes and make a deal with a demon.

She got out on the driver's side where Sam was waiting for them and closed the car door behind her. Dean sat there for a minute, leaning his hand against his forehead with his elbow on the back of the front seat. He was thinking about letting Sam just drop dead and cut off the deal. Was that the same as killing someone themselves though? He didn't feel right doing it but his daughter was alive and needed him.

"Dean, are you coming?" Sam called over to him. Dean didn't look up, he was too deep in thought so Sam went over and opened the door Sarah had come out of. "Dean."

Dean looked over at his brother before looking away again. "Why don't you go get the food, Sammy, I'm gonna stay out here. Just get me a bacon cheeseburger."

Sam nodded and closed the car door before he and Sarah headed inside. When they were gone, Dean stepped out of the car and closed the door behind him. He leaned against the Impala, staring at the ground. His heartstrings were tugging at the idea going through his mind.

Dean looked up as a vacationing family was walking out of the fast food place to their minivan. A four-year-old girl laughed excitedly as she sat on her father's shoulders as she clapped her hands. Dean watched the father and daughter until they were all inside their minivan and took out a flask from inside his blue jacket, unscrewing the lid to take a drink. Dean did deserved hell for the decisions he made. If he couldn't even think to look for his daughter more and find out if she was really dead or not, then what kind of a father was he? Sarah would be better off without him and when he gets the chance, he and Sarah were going to talk about it. She needed to learn the harsh truth: her father made a careless decision and he had to pay for his mistakes. Sarah was strong enough, she could handle it.

The Winchesters finally arrived at a house in the country where Bobby was meeting them. Cicadas were buzzing like crazy when they pulled up and got out which they knew wasn't a good sign.

They walked over to where Bobby was leaning against the back of his car, who met them halfway. Sarah hugged his right leg, leaning against it.

"So, Bobby," Sam was the first to speak, "what do you think? We got a biblical plague here or what?"

Bobby was running his hand along the little girl's hair, "Well, let's find out," he replied and started walking towards the house. The Winchesters followed. "Looks like the swarm's ground zero."

Dean knocked on the door, shouting, candy gram, but there was no answer. So he took out his lockpick and unlocked the door. Once the door was open and the four of them stepped inside, a strong scent hit their nostrils.

Sarah coughed the most and held her hand over her nose and mouth as she used the other to reach behind, and pull out the gun she had behind her as she followed her father deeper into the house. They looked around the house and they heard a woman scream on the other side of a closed door.

Sam and Dean burst through the door first, finding the source of the smell. The moment Sarah stepped in, she had to rush outside and down the front steps to throw up in the dirt, trying hard to hold it in as she ran. Dean hurried outside after her and kneeled behind her. Even though watching her puke made him want to, Dean stayed there and rubbed her back as she stood there, keeled over with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath, only throwing up twice.

"You okay, Baby Girl?" asked Dean.

She nodded.

"I thought you had a strong stomach for this stuff?" he tried to tease her.

Sarah just glared back at him, not looking like she was in the mood to joke around.

Suddenly, they heard a creak from the pouch and both stood up, slowly, keeping their guards up. It didn't seem like it was Sam or Bobby as father and daughter made their way back up the steps, with their guns pointed towards the ground.

Realizing someone was behind them now, Dean and Sarah turned on their heels just as they were knocked around a couple times, before getting knocked off their feet. The two of them looked up to see an older man standing over them as he pointed a rifle at them. Dean quickly shielded his daughter with his arm as the man cocked the rifle.

Bobby came from around the corner as a woman hurried up, beside the man. "Isaac? Tamara?" he asked, surprised to see them and walked over to them, ignoring Dean and Sarah.

"Bobby," the woman, Tamara replied, "What the hell are you doing here?"

He half laughed, "I could ask the same."

"Hey, how are you, Bobby?" The man, Isaac shook his hand, also glad to see him.

Dean raised his hand up, between them. "Hello? Bleeding here," he sighed.

The three of them looked down at the two of them.

"Oh, Sarah, are you all right?" Bobby asked, more concerned for the little girl. He helped her up and looked her over. Her nose was bleeding a little and there was a bruise already forming on the side of her forehead but that was it.

"I'm okay, Uncle Bobby," she assured him.

Dean had decided to help himself up. "I'm okay too," he said.

After calling for someone to pick up the rotted corpses, Bobby and the Winchesters went with Isaac and Tamara to their house. While Dean spoke with the coroner on the phone, the rest of them tried to make small talk. Sarah ended up nudging Sam in the leg when he asked how Isaac and Tamara got started hunting and the two of them didn't answer. He quickly apologized.

Dean came in from a back room, wrapping up his call. "That was the coroner's tech," he said when he hung up.

Sam asked, "And?"

"Get this," he replied, "That whole family, cause of death: dehydration and starvation. No signs of restraint. No violence, no struggle. They just sat down and never got up."

"But there was a fully-stocked kitchen just yards away," Bobby shrugged.

"Right," Sam agreed. "What is this, a demon attack?"

"Well, whatever it is, it's not anything I've ever seen and I've seen plenty," Bobby told them.

"What now? What should we do?" Dean asked.

"Uh, we're not gonna do anything," Isaac spoke up.

Sarah looked over at him, "What do you mean?"

"You guys seem nice enough," he said, "but this ain't _Scooby-Doo _and we don't play well with others."

"Well, I think we'd cover more ground if we all work together," Sam told him.

"No offense, but we're not teaming with the damn fools who let the devil's gates get open in the first place."

Dean looked over at the man, raising his eye brows, "No offense?" he asked of him.

"Isaac," Tamara told her husband, "Like you never made a mistake."

"Oh yeah," Isaac looked at his wife for a moment before looking at the rest of them, "Locked my keys in the car. Turned my laundry pink. Never brought on the end of the world."

Dean forced a snicker at that, "All right. That's enough. My daughter's only nine years old and was easily manipulated by a demon."

"Your daughter shouldn't even be out hunting in the first place," he snapped over at Dean.

Dean tried to take a step towards him but Bobby rushed over and held him back. He immediately stopped, looking over at Sarah who was beating herself up again.

"Look, there are couple hundred more demons out there now," Isaac continued. "We don't know where they are. When they'll strike. There ain't enough hunters in the world to handle something like this. You brought war down on us. On all of us."

Tears were starting to fall from Sarah's eyes, not pleasing Dean in the slightest. He looked over at Isaac again, "I said, that's enough."

"Okay," Tamara spoke up, this time, "That's quite enough testosterone for now." She took her husband by the hand and led him out of the room.

Dean glared at Isaac until they were gone then turned his attention to his daughter again, lifting her up, into his arms. It was bad enough Sarah was beating her own self up over releasing the demons from hell, but to have other hunters remind her of it, made Dean want to punch somebody.


	81. Chapter 80

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 80

The next day, the Winchesters and Bobby caught word of an attack in the town not far away and went to investigate. A woman was brutally murdered over a pair of shoes. Bobby went to talk with the woman who had murdered her while the Winchesters checked out the crime scene.

"Murdered? Over a pair of shoes? That's ridiculous," Sarah was saying as she and Sam watched as the police swabbed up some of the blood for evidence.

"People are crazy," Sam replied before they headed inside where Dean was talking to one of the store associates.

Sarah cleared her throat, loudly to get her father's attention.

"Excuse me a minute, would you?" Dean asked of the associate.

"Sure," she agreed and walked away as Sam let out a deep sigh.

Sarah stood there with her arms folded. "Can we ever go someone without you flirting with someone?" she asked of him.

He shrugged, "I was just comforting the bereaved."

"Uh huh, sure."

"What are you doing?" Dean asked her.

"Working the job," Sarah replied, "You know, with the whole psycho shopper killing for a pair of shoes, maybe could have been possessed. That sort of thing. What we do for a living."

Dean fake-coughed into his hand, "Baby Girl, I'm sorry. It's just, you know, I don't have that much time left, and, uh…" He fake-coughed again. "…I gotta make every second count."

Sarah was unmoved by her father as she stared up at him. "I'm not giving you any pity either, Dad, like I told Uncle Sam," she told him, shaking her head.

"Come on, you can feel a little pity for your dear ole dad, right?" Dean grinned and fake-coughed a couple more times.

Sarah turned her head away. Dean's grin left his face and frowned at his daughter. She was still mad at him all right. Bobby walked up to the Winchesters, dressed in a suit much like they wore sometimes, and no trucker's cap. He walked over and adjusted his tie in the mirror behind where Dean was standing.

Dean whistled at him, "Looking spiffy, Bobby. What were you, a G-man?"

The older man turned around to look at the small family and walked in between them, "Returning from the DA's office. Just spoke to the suspect." Bobby turned around again.

Sam asked, "Yeah? What do you think then? Was she possessed?"

Bobby shook his head, "Don't think so. There's none of the usual signs. No blackouts, no loss of control. Totally lucid," he shrugged, "Just think she really wanted those shoes. Spilled a glass of holy water on her, just to be sure. Nothing."

Sarah shrugged, "So now what? I mean, first that family and now this?"

He shrugged again too, "I believe in a lot of things. Coincidences ain't one of them. Did any of you find anything around here?"

"No sulfur or anything," she replied.

"Well, maybe something," Dean said and looked back, behind him at a surveillance camera before looking at his daughter. "See? I'm working," he told her.

Asking the store manager, the Winchesters and Bobby took a look at the surveillance tapes, watching as a man walked into the store and over to the suspect. Placing a hand on her shoulder, the man said something to her while looking over at the woman who was murdered.

The four of them split up. Sarah joined Sam to do some research on the random guy while Dean and Bobby looked around for him.

"Try not to be so cold towards your dad, Peanut," Sam was telling her as they walked along the sidewalk. "He still loves you."

"I know, it's just…Dad's gonna be gone in a year. I spent most of my childhood wondering about the man, praying for him to find me. I'm gonna miss him, Uncle Sam."

Sam reached down and lifted his niece up, onto his opposite side as he continued walking. "I'm gonna miss him too, Peanut," he told her and kissed her cheek.

Sarah suddenly looked up and caught a glimpse of a young, blond woman following them. She disappeared when someone walked passed her, carrying a large box.

"What is it, Peanut?" Sam asked and looked back, behind him.

"I thought I saw someone following us," she replied.

Sam looked at her, "What did she look like?"

She shrugged, "I only caught a glimpse of her hair. It was long and blond."

The two of them stared at where the woman had disappeared.

After doing some research, Sam and Sarah met up with Dean and Bobby in a bar parking lot. Sam decided to scare the crap out of his brother before opening the car door door. Sandwiching Dean in the seat, he climbed into the backseat after letting Sarah climb in first.

"So John Doe's name is, uh, Walter Rosen," Sam explained what they learned. "He's from Oak Park just west of Chicago. Went missing about a week ago."

"The same night I opened the devil's gate," Sarah added.

"So you think he's possessed?" Dean asked over his shoulder.

"It's a good bet," replied Sam. "So what, he just walks up to someone, touches them and they go stark craving psycho or something?"

"Those demons that got out of those gates, they'll be able to do all kinds of things we haven't seen," Bobby shook his head.

"You mean, the demons I let out," Sarah corrected him.

Dean interrupted them, looking over at the guy, Walter Rosen getting out of his car, "Guys." They watched him for a moment before he said, "All right. Showtime."

"Wait a minute," Bobby told him.

He looked over at the older man, "What?"

Bobby looked back at him, "What did I just say? We don't know what to expect out of this guy. We should tail him till we know for sure."

"Oh, so he kills someone and we just sit here with our junk in our hands?"

"We're no good dead," said Bobby, sternly. "We're not gonna make a move until we know what the score is."

"Uh, then you should probably tell them that," Sarah said as she watched Isaac and Tamara walk into the bar too.

The men looked at who the little girl was referring to. Bobby hit the steering wheel in frustration, "Damn it."

Bobby and Dean jumped out of the car and hurried up to the bar's main doors and started ramming themselves against it when they saw it was locked. When that didn't work, they got back in the car once the other two had cleared out the trunk and Bobby backed up to drive his car through the doors, crashing right through.

Dean and Bobby jumped out again and threw holy water at the demons while Sam grabbed Tamara, helping her inside where Sarah held the front seat forward for her. Once Tamara was safely in the car, Bobby jumped back in, shutting his door. Sam hurried his brother along which Dean knocked out the one they were trailing and shoved him into the trunk, a devil's trap drawn on the inside of the trunk lid. He then hurried over and jumped back into the car, himself before Bobby floored it, heading back to Isaac and Tamara's house.

Tamara argued to go back to the bar though for her husband. Sam tried to tell her they couldn't go back but she insisted. Dean agreed to go with her.

"It's suicide, Dean," Sam said after him.

"So what?" Dean asked over his shoulder. "I'm dead already."

"So what?" Sarah repeated her father, angrily. "We can't even have a damn year with you now?"

"Besides, how are you going to kill them?" Sam added. "You can't shoot them. You can't stab them. They're not just gonna wait in line to get exorcised."

"I don't care!" Tamara screamed.

Sarah stepped towards her, "Look, I'm really sorry about this but your husband is already dead. There's nothing you can do. There's probably fifty of them hanging around."

"No," Bobby stepped towards them at that point as he held a book in his hands, "more like seven."

The others turned to look at him. "Seven?" Sarah asked.

"That's right, it's the seven deadly sins," he explained, looking between everyone. "Live and in the flesh."

Dean scoffed, "What's in the box?" He laughed at his own reference while the rest of them just stared at him. It was awkwardly quiet except for a few crickets from outside. "Brad Pitt? _Se7en_? No?"

Bobby just shoved the book into his hands.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Classification of demons," Bobby told him, "In 1589, Binsfeld ID'd the seven sins. Not just as human vices, but actual devils."

Sarah was surprised to hear that, "Really?"

Bobby nodded at her, "Yes."

"The family," Sam realized, "they were touched by Sloth. And the shopper."

"Envy?" she guessed.

"You bet," Bobby replied, "the customer we got in the next room. I couldn't suss it out at first, until Isaac. He was touched with an awful gluttony."

"I don't give a rat's ass if they're the Three Stooges or the Four Tops," said Tamara, angrily. "I'm gonna slaughter every last one of them."

Bobby got up, close to her, "We already did it your way," he snarled. "You burst in half-cocked and look what happened. These demons haven't been top side in half a millennium. We're talking medieval, Dark Ages. We've never faced anything close to this. So we are gonna take a breath…" Bobby paused to breathe in and raised his voice, "…and figure out what our next move is!"

Tamara shifted on her feet, trying to find something to say as her lower lip quivered.

"I am sorry for your loss," he said, calmly and walked into the other room where the demon, Envy was tied up in a devil's trap.

Tamara followed.

Dean looked at his brother and daughter who followed too.

Envy laughed, "So you know who I am, huh?"

Bobby walked in front of him, "We do. We're not impressed."

"Now, why are you here?" Sam walked in next. "What are you after?"

Envy didn't respond.

Dean was the last to walk in, still holding the book Bobby had thrust at him. "He asked you a question," he told the demon and slammed the book down on a table. "What do you want?"

Envy smirked over at Tamara and laughed. Bobby looked over Dean who unscrewed a cap on a holy water flask and flicked some holy water on him. The water burned his skin as Envy yelled out in pain.

"We already have what we want," he grunted with his head down and looked over at Dean.

Dean turned his head sideways, "What's that?"

Envy looked forward, "We're out." He looked around at the group. "We're free. Thanks to you my kind are everywhere." Envy looked back at Dean again. "We are legion, for we are many," he said and chuckled.

Sam looked over his right shoulder, behind him. Sarah wasn't doing so good, herself. It was bad enough she let over two hundred demons get out, but to let out the seven deadly sins? She didn't know anything about them as demons, but by the sound of Bobby's voice, she knew it wasn't good. Not to mention she knew how bad sins were, by themselves.

"So me, I'm celebrating," Envy continued, looking over at Sam. "Having a little fun."

Sam asked, "Fun?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Fun. See, some people crochet, others golf. Me…" he smirked. "I like to see people's insides…" Envy twisted his head to the side. "On their outside."

Bobby looked over at Tamara as she stepped towards Envy. "I'm gonna put you down like a dog," she snarled at him.

He only smirked, "Please" and laughed, looking around at the hunters. "You really think you're better than me? Which one of you can cast the first stone, huh?" Envy looked over at Dean, "What about you, Dean? You're practically a walking billboard of gluttony and lust." He switched over to Tamara. "And Tamara, all that wrath. Ooh. Tsk, tsk, tsk," he shook his head. "It's the reason you and Isaac became hunters in the first place, isn't it? It's so much easier to drink in the rage…" Envy breathed in through his nose. "Then to face what really happened all those years ago."

Tamara suddenly lashed out at the demon, punching him twice in the jaw before Dean and Bobby held her back.

Envy tried to pop his jaw from the pain and laughed. "My point exactly. And you call us sins."

Dean let go and stepped towards him.

"We're not sins, man," Envy laughed. "We are natural human instinct." He looked over at Sam. "And you can repress and deny us all you want but the truth is, you are just animals. Horny, greedy…"

"We don't have horns, idiot," Sarah spat at him.

Dean tried his best to stifle a grin at his daughter's innocence. One had to love that kid.

"I would think living with your dad, you would know that word already," Envy told her. "Just look at you alone. You can try and label yourself, a Christian, Sarah. But I can see all that's inside you. Lust for daddy's approval, gluttony. And even some envy."

Sarah clenched her fists at her sides, feeling the same as Tamara had. Dean could sense what was coming and pulled his daughter away before she too latched out at him.

Envy just grinned as he watched then looked around the room. "The others," he said and sat back in his chair. "They're coming for me."

Dean was keeping a firm grip on Sarah's upper arms. He looked over at Envy, "Maybe…" and shrugged, "but they're not gonna find you because you'll be in hell." Dean stared at the demon and turned to lead Sarah out of the room. "Someone send this clown packing."

Sarah tried to break from her father's grip. "I will," she volunteered with passion.

"No, it'll be my pleasure," Tamara spoke up, glaring at the demon.

Sarah understood, what with Tamara's husband dying in the hands of those guys so she didn't argue. She wanted to so badly though and fought the urge to argue as her father continued to lead her from the room.

Sam and Bobby followed the two of them out of the room as Tamara started the exorcism. "I don't think we're gonna have to worry about hunting them," Bobby said once they were in the other room.

"What does that mean?" Sam asked.

"I think this joker's right," he nodded once. "They're gonna be hunting us, and they're not gonna quit easy."

Dean looked over at Sam, "Guys, why don't you take Tamara and head for the hills. I'll stay back, slow them down, buy some time."

Sarah turned, swiftly to look up at her father. "What is with you all of a sudden, Dad? Are you that ready to jump in the pit?"

"There's six of them, Sarah," he told her. "We outmanned, we're out gunned. We'll be dead by dawn."

"Maybe," Bobby shook his head, "but there's no place to run that they won't find us."

"Look," Sam added, "if we're going down, we're going down together, all right?"

Dean nodded at Bobby, "Let's not make it easy for them."

At that point, they heard Envy scream and a sudden wave of air blew the candles out behind Dean, shaking the house. Tamara slammed the book closed and headed over to the Winchesters and Bobby, letting them know the demon was gone and that the guy Envy was possessing did not make it.

They prepared for the next demon attack. Sarah loaded a salt-barreled shotgun up. She glanced up at her father who was doing the same. She couldn't believe he was checking out already. It felt like he didn't care anymore. Sarah had lost so much as it was and she couldn't bear to think her father was next. How could Dean just not care anymore?

Dean caught his daughter looking at him and looked back at her. He desperately wanted to talk to her, right then and there but not with Sam in the room, and Bobby close by. No, it had to be just the two of them. That's how it had been before. Sarah was the only one he was willing to share his feelings with.

His heart ached to see the pain and sadness in her eyes as she continued to stare at him. Dean did not want to leave his little girl all alone in the world but putting his brother ahead of her, he just couldn't forgive himself.

An old fashioned radio turned on by itself, making the Winchesters look over at its direction. Dean cocked his gun and stood up, "Here we go." The three of them walked over to the boarded-up window and peeked out through the boards.

Isaac's voice called out through the night for Tamara, pleading to her. Sarah turned around and pinned herself to the wall under the window. This must have been hard for Tamara to have to listen to. Sarah tightened her grip on her shotgun as it continued.

Suddenly, the three of them heard Tamara scream and saw her jump out the front door and tackle her husband down the steps, plunging the wooden stake into his chest. With the door open and the salt line broken, the other five demons rushed in. One went after Bobby while four of them hurried up the stairs.

It had taken some arguing but Dean had to agree to the three of them splitting up in hopes of getting a better chance of taking on the demons. Sarah stayed in the same room while Sam and Dean headed elsewhere.

The door burst open and in came two of the demons. "Here's Johnny," it smiled.

Sarah stood her ground, clutching the shotgun in her hands. "That is so old, dude," she told it. "Plus you didn't even do it right. You're supposed to bust a hole in the door, not bust down the whole thing."

The demons walked towards her, slowly. The one in front that had spoken raised his hand for the other one to stop. He looked up at the ceiling, smiling and then turned back to Sarah. "Come on," he said, his eyes black. "You really think something like that is gonna fool someone like me? I mean, me?"

"You must be pride," she guessed.

Pride smiled at her, cocking his head to the right as he raised his hand towards the ceiling. A large crack cut through the ceiling, breaking the devil's trap. "Mm. The root of all sin. And you…are Sarah Winchester." He took a few steps towards her.

Sarah stared at him, surprised he knew her name.

"That's right, I heard of you," he said. "We've all heard of you. The prodigy. The Girl Queen. Looking at you now, I gotta tell you, don't believe the hype. You think I'm gonna bow to a cut-rate, piss-pour human like you?" Pride raised his eye brows at her, "I have my pride, after all."

"Why would a demon bow down to me?" Sarah questioned him.

"Well, with your yellow-eyed demon friend dead, I don't have to do a damn thing, do I? So it doesn't matter. You're fair game now and it's open season."

Sarah backed away, holding the shotgun up to the demon. He lunged towards her but Sarah dodged out of the way. This was not going as she had pictured it. Pride lunged at her some more until he was able to pin her to the wall, his hand around her neck. No one noticed the same girl Sarah had caught a glimpse of before, coming into the room and drew a knife from her right leg hoister.

The other demon had heard it and turned on the spot. His throat was slashed and died instantly as if he had been shot with the Colt, a glow illuminating from the wound and his mouth and eye sockets.

Sarah stared in amazement at a knife that could kill demons and began to wonder who this woman was. Her thoughts didn't stay focused for too long when Pride tightened his grip on her neck. That is, until he was stabbed in the back, releasing Sarah. She fell onto the floor, crouched as she tried to catch her breath.

She looked up at the mysterious woman that had helped her. "Thank you," Sarah told her and slowly stood up, reaching for her shotgun she had dropped. She wasn't about to drop her guard just yet. "Who are you?"

The woman looked back at her, "I'm the girl who just saved your little ass."

"I know that, but what's your name? You must be a hunter, right?"

The woman didn't respond. "See you around, Sarah." She turned and walked out of the room.

She also knew her name? What the heck? Was Sarah that famous? "Boy, now I know how Harry Potter felt," Sarah muttered to herself and tried to run after her. "Hey, wait up. You don't just save a person's life and then walk out on them. How do you know me? Who are you?" Sarah got out into the hallway and saw the woman was nowhere in sight.

Sarah continued down the hallway but all she found was her uncle finishing up his exorcism, sending another demon back to hell. There was no way that woman could up and disappear. Unless she wasn't human. Sarah didn't understand one bit of it and could not shake, thinking about it all the way through till the next morning as the adults laid out the dead bodies of the ones who didn't make it, into a large grave they dug.

Dean thought it was odd that the demons his daughter dealt with had stab wounds and tried to ask Sarah what had happened but Sarah didn't tell him anything. She wasn't sure what to make out of what had happened and wasn't sure she should tell her father either.

Sam and Dean poured gasoline over the corpses as Bobby walked up to them and looked over at Tamara, who was burning her husband's corpse.

"You think she's gonna be all right?" asked Sam.

"No, defiantly not," Dean replied.

Bobby stopped on Dean's right side.

"Well, you look like hell warmed over."

Bobby ran his hand down his face. "Well, you try exorcising all night, see how you feel," he told him.

Sam asked, "Any survivors, Bobby?"

"Well, the girls, and the heavy guy, they'll make it," he answered. "Lifetime of therapy bills, but still."

Dean took out a set of matches. "That's more than you can say about these poor bastards," he said, taking a match out.

"I've been thinking," Sam said.

Dean asked, "About what?"

"If we let out the seven deadly sins, what else did we let out?"

"You mean, what else did _I _let out?" Sarah corrected him.

"Peanut, stop it. We're all to blame for what happened, okay?" Sam told his niece. "You're just a kid. It wasn't just your fault."

"But I let the demon talk me into it. I stuck the Colt in the devil's gate and opened it. I let the demons get out," she argued with him.

Dean hated having to hear his daughter tear herself up over this. "Sam's right, Baby Girl. You thought everyone was dead. The demon lied and tricked you to do it. You did what you thought was right," he told her.

Sarah looked over at her father. "The last time I checked, hell was paved with good intentions, Dad."

"That's enough, Sarah Lynn. I don't want to hear any more of this. We are all responsible for something, not just you. You understand me?"

She looked down at the corpses.

"Do you understand me?" Dean repeated with more sternness.

"Yes, sir," Sarah glanced up at her father long enough to answer.

Dean lit all of the matches and tossed them down into the hole. All of the corpses caught fire and started to burn.

A little bit later, Tamara said good-bye to the Winchesters and Bobby, and headed off in her van, on her own before Bobby turned to head for his own car. Sarah hugged his legs as Sam asked, "We can win this war, can't we?"

Bobby couldn't answer that and leaned over to kiss the top of Sarah's head before he walked over to slide into his car and drove away, waving at them. The Winchesters waved back.

Dean was the first to start walking towards the Impala, rubbing his hands together. "So where to?" he asked.

"Uh," Sam replied, walking beside him with his hands in his jeans pockets. "I don't know. I was thinking Louisiana, maybe."

"Little early for Mardi Gras, isn't it?" Dean asked.

Sarah was walking behind her father on his other side.

"Yeah," Sam muttered. "Listen, I was talking to Tamara and she mentioned this hoodoo priestess outside Sheveport that might be able to help us out, you know, with your…your demon deal."

Sarah looked up from staring at the ground, hopeful.

Dean shrugged, "Nah."

"'Nah?' What does that mean, nah?" he questioned his brother.

"Sam, no hoodoo spirit is gonna break this deal," Dean shook his head. "It's a goose chase."

"We don't know that."

"Yes, we do." Dean shook his head again. "Forget it, she can't help."

"Ain't it worth a try?" Sarah asked in a pleading manner.

"Sarah, we're not going and that's that," he told her.

"But…" she tried to plead.

"But, nothing. How about California, huh? We can visit Disneyland and ride the rides until we puke," he gently hit Sarah in the upper arm and headed for the Impala again.

Sam grabbed him by the arm, "You know what?" He threw up his hands. "I've had it."

Sarah agreed with her uncle.

"I've been bending over backwards trying to be nice to you and…" Sam shrugged, "I don't care anymore."

"That didn't last long," Dean replied.

"Shut it, Dad," Sarah told her father off.

Dean looked over at his daughter, "Excuse me, young lady?"

"I mean it, Dad," she said. "I understand how much you care about Uncle Sam and I, but how can you care so less about yourself? I saw you broken up over Grandpa. Shoot, that's the main reason why I had come clean. Because I knew you both deserved the truth. But after hearing that speech of yours that it wasn't natural or right and you go and do the same? That's called being a hypocrite, Dad. Not only that, but now that you know I'm alive, you won't even give a crap that you're dying and I'm sorry for sounding selfish here, but…" Sarah's voice cracked, "but in a year, you will be gone and I'll still be here without you." A tear ran down her right cheek. "The one person that I can turn to with whatever and the one I look up to the most, is gonna be gone. What about me, huh? What am I supposed to do?"

Dean stared down at his daughter as she spilled out her feelings towards him. He could see just how broken up she was and hated having to leave her. Dean slowly kneeled down to her level, resting his right arm across his leg. "Listen to me, Baby Girl," he said, "I wanted to wait until no one else was around to talk to you. I know I'm your hero and all, but…" he looked down at the ground, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to stifle his own tears. Dean slowly looked up, "I love you, you know that. But to think that I chose my own brother instead of thinking there was a chance you were alive. It's been eating me, inside and out. I deserve hell for the decisions I've made. Got it? I tried to be a better dad than mine was, but in the end, I failed. Bottom line."

Sarah stared back at her father. She couldn't believe how her father felt. "But Dad…" she tried to argue.

"There's no other option, Baby Girl," he shook his head at her. "This is my last year. You can be mad all you want but I want to at least make it up to you."

"But can't we at least try and save you?"

"If we trap the crossroads demon. Trick it, try and welch our way out of the deal in any way, Sam dies. Okay?"

"Uncle Sam is supposed to be dead, though," Sarah pointed out, swallowing a lump in her throat.

"Yes and I have considered that, but I still have to live with my decision and I can't live with that," he told her.

"Well, it's stupid," she replied, bitterly.

"Think what you want, but I'm not changing my mind."

Sarah looked up at her uncle, who gave her a painful smile that said he agreed with her. She looked down at the ground, her right fist clenching and suddenly, out of nowhere, Sarah socked her father in the side of the face. The brothers were shocked by what she had done.

Dean was knocked back, taken by surprise, landing on his right hand and pushed himself back into a kneeled position, staring at his daughter.

Sarah glared back but didn't say a word. Instead, she turned around and walked over to climb into the backseat, holding her monkey to her as she cried into its head.

Dean slowly rose to his feet as he watched his daughter walk away. He looked over at his brother before staring down at the ground. It hurt to watch his daughter feel the way she was feeling. Dean knew Sarah loved her uncle but Sam was supposed to be dead. Dean couldn't live with himself anymore. What's done is done and he had to pay for it.


	82. Chapter 81

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 81

Sam and Sarah sat in a restaurant waiting on Dean. Sam had his laptop open trying to decipher an ancient ritual he and Bobby found that could break Dean's deal. Over the last few weeks, the two of them secretly continued to find a way to save Dean without Sam having to die again. Nothing seemed to work though. Sarah hated having to say it but she kept going back to the possibly of Sam just accepting death. Sam wouldn't have any of it. They were going to try every single, possible thing in the book before they even considered it.

Meanwhile, there had been no communication between Dean and Sarah. They each slept on two different sides of the bed when they slept in motel rooms. Somehow though, they always seem to wake up with Dean's arm wrapped, protectively around her and Sarah snuggled up against him.

Dean wasn't angry or upset with his daughter in any way, but Sarah just felt hurt by how her father was feeling. How little he valued his own life and how he couldn't forgive himself. Sarah tried to be angry with him but the more she thought about losing her father to hell, the more she longed to hug him. So Sarah didn't give up, she kept up with helping her uncle and Bobby figure out a way to break Dean free of the deal. There had to be a way. There just has to and Sarah prayed on it, day in and day out.

Dean tapped on the glass next to the table to get their attention and walked into the restaurant, asking Sam who he was talking to on the phone.

"Oh, I was just ordering pizza," Sam quickly answered.

Sarah slowly turned to look at her uncle as if to ask, "Really? That's the best excuse you can come up with?"

Dean stared at him, strangely. "Dude, you do realize you're in a restaurant?"

Sam tightened his folded arms, leaning on them. "Yeah. Yeah, oh, yeah," he said. "I just felt like pizza, you know?"

Sarah covered her eyes as she shook her head at the table.

Dean looked between the two of them and looked over at Sam, "Okay, Mister Weirdy McWeirderton." He sat down in his own chair and pushed it closer to the table. "So I think I got something."

Sam looked at him with eagerness, "Yeah?"

Dean opened a newspaper. "Cicero, Indiana," he read and tossed it over in between Sam and Sarah. "Guy falls on his own power saw."

Sarah looked at the newspaper then over at her father. "Okay, that doesn't sound anything supernatural. Maybe the guy's just clumsily, you know. Or could be, he's just suicidal. He could have even tripped and fell on it by accident. Not really much to go on for it to be called a case."

"Okay, fine. There's something better," Dean admitted.

"What's that?" she asked.

"An old friend, we'll leave it at that," he told her.

"Let me guess, another old girlfriend?"

Dean leaned back against his seat, placing his right arm across the back of the chair next to him, "No, why would you think that?"

"Because the last time we met one of your old friends, it turned out to be an old girlfriend that broke up with you," Sarah reminded him of Cassie.

"That was one time," he replied. "How could you possibly think this was an old girlfriend too?"

"Because you don't have any guy friends," she said, "and all you do is flirt with every girl that comes into contact with you. I swear you remind me of a rabbit I saw once when Mark took me camping the summer before he was deported."

Dean sat there for a moment before he said, "Remind me why I decided to have the talk with you already?"

"Because you were frustrated with all the questions I was asking you," Sarah reminded her father.

Sam laid his right arm across the back of Sarah's chair, "So let me get this straight," he said. "You wanna drive all the way to Cicero just to hook up with some random chick?"

"She was a yoga teacher," Dean corrected him.

Sarah crossed her arms, "How long ago was the last time you saw her?"

"Uh, about eight or nine years," he replied. "Why?"

"Okay, what if you get there and she's married to a jealous man who doesn't know about her past?" she asked and raised an eyebrow at her father.

"Kid's got a point there," Sam pointed out.

"Come on, you two," Dean pleaded with them. "Have a heart, huh. It's my dying wish."

"Yeah, well, how many dying wishes are you gonna get?" he laughed, looking down at the table.

"As many as I can squeeze out," he said.

Sarah leaned back with her arms still crossed. "I'd say let him. I bet fifty bucks though, she's married with a family now."

Dean shrugged, "Fine. I will take you on that bet." He held his hand over the table for his daughter to shake on, sure of himself. From what he remembered of her, there was no way the girl was married.

Sarah leaned forward and accepted the handshake. "Uncle Sam's the witness," she shook her head over in Sam's direction.

"Where are you gonna get fifty dollars if your dad wins the bet?" Sam asked his niece.

"Uncle Bobby gives me money for helping him out with the cars when I stay with him," she replied.

Dean held his arms out, "Then why do you ask me for an allowance then?"

Sarah looked over at her father. "Really, Dad? I'm with you guys more than I stay with Uncle Bobby."

"Yeah, whatever," he rolled his eyes, smiling as he looked away. "Con artist."

After grabbing a bite to eat, the Winchesters hit the road again. On the way there, Sam had Sarah work on some of her homeschool stuff the whole way. They started on math but Sarah breezed right through the division and fraction pages. Sam also had Sarah read another chapter of the book, _Holes_ they had been working on and came up with questions for her to answer afterwards. Sarah ended up finishing the book.

Once they drove into Cicero, Indiana, Dean dropped the two of them off at a motel and took off for his "special" friend's house as Sarah was calling her. Sam rented a room for the three of them and dropped their stuff off in their room.

"Peanut, before you get comfortable, we're gonna run across the street to the gas station," Sam told his niece. "Grab the drinks then we'll come back here and I'll order pizza for dinner."

"I'm tired though. Can I stay here while you go?" she asked.

Sam stood there with his hands on his sides and looked away. "You know how your dad feels about you being alone," he reminded her, looking back at her.

"Yeah, but I'm older now and know how to protect myself. Come on, nothing bad will happen. Did you look at this town? It's Suburban City out there. Please," she begged.

Sam started biting a part of his lower lip, contemplating it in his head. He didn't want to leave his niece all alone. It was just across the street and he would only be gone for ten minutes. "Fine, you can stay." Sam held his left hand out, pointing at her, "but do not tell your dad I let you stay by yourself."

"Trust me, there's a lot of things Dad doesn't know," she assured him.

"Like what?" he asked, folding his arms at her.

"Uh…nothing," Sarah replied when she realized she had basically ratted on herself.

Sam just rolled his eyes and leaned over to kiss his niece on the forehead. "I will be right back, okay? Lock the door and don't answer it for anybody." He stood up and headed for the door. "And no TV until that book report is finished."

Sarah stood up and slumped after her uncle to lock the door behind him. "Yes, Uncle Sam," she told him in monotone. She was really hoping to be able to watch some TV.

"I'll be quick as I can," he told her and closed the door.

Sarah locked both locks and wandered back over to the beds to sit down on the edge, digging in her duffel bag for her homeschool spiral notebook, taking the pencil from inside the spiral and opened it to where she had started her book report.

"Hello, Sarah," a woman's voice greeted her from the other bed.

Sarah looked up from her notebook to see the woman who had saved her back on that last hunt. She jumped up and started inching her way towards her uncle's backpack. Sam usually kept a knife or two in there. "It's you again. How did you get in here? Why are you following me?"

The woman ignored her, looking around the motel room. "I've been waiting to get you alone so I could have a chat with you."

"Why?" she asked still inching over to the bag while keeping an eye on the woman lying there.

The woman shrugged, "I have a soft spot for the kiddies." She watched Sarah for a couple seconds. "You can stop, you don't need a weapon."

"How can I be sure? My dad says never to let your guard down until you're one hundred percent sure you're in the clear."

"I'm here to help you, Sarah." The woman told her.

Sarah eyed her, suspiciously, "Help me with what?"

"For starters, I can break your dad out of his deal."

Sarah whipped her uncle's knife from the backpack. "How do you know about that?"

"Word gets around fast these days," she shrugged.

"By who? Tell me who you are," Sarah demanded.

The shrugged, "The name's Ruby. There, satisfied."

Sarah shook her head, her fingers twisted around the handle of the knife. She didn't want to kill a living, human being, but if her life was at stake, she would. Sarah was learning fast. "Are you a hunter?"

"I guess you can say that," Ruby shrugged again, sitting up straight, now.

"Where did you get that knife?" she asked. "I never once read about any knife that could kill a demon like the Colt can."

"That's because it's my own weapon."

There was a short silence. Sarah stared at the blond woman sitting on the bed, smirking at her. Finally, Sarah said, "Well?"

She asked, "Well, what?"

"How can we break my dad's deal? You said it, now start talking." At that point, a cough came up. For the past couple of days, Sarah's throat had been feeling a little sore, and now and then, a cough came through. Sarah didn't think anything of it. Rarely, did she get sick. It was probably a common cold that would pass soon.

Ruby leaned forward on her forearms, "All you have to do, Sarah, is a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"From time to time, I check in. Help each other, that kind of thing." Ruby leaned back on her hands.

"Help with what?"

"You're a special kid, Sarah. Yellow Eyes may be dead but there are still big plans for you," Ruby explained.

"What kind of plans?"

"I don't know, I've been trying to figure that myself. But if we work together, we might be able to. How about it? Deal?"

"I don't even know you. Why should I automatically assume you're safe to trust? Just because you can help my dad? No thanks. After recent events, I don't trust that easily anymore," Sarah scowled at her.

"Fine, don't trust me. Let your dad get mauled by hellhounds and take a one way trip to hell," Ruby told her. "Like father, like son. Am I right? And you will be able to have front row seats, so you'll see everything." She smirked at the little girl.

"Not anymore," Sarah said. "Ever since Yellow Eyes died I haven't had any nightmares or visions. My mind thing's even gone."

A sound of a key unlocking the door was heard, getting both their attention.

Ruby looked over at Sarah and smirked, "I know you hate your cousin's guts right now, but why don't you give him a call. I have a hunch it might help with the night Yellow Eyes first met you as a baby. And one more thing, you do realize there's a job here, right?" And with that, Ruby was gone, right as Sam came through the door, carrying a plastic bag of drinks.

Sam stopped, holding the doorknob in his right hand and stared over at his niece, who was standing in between the beds, holding his knife in her hand. "Everything okay, Peanut?" he asked, worried.

Sarah was looking at him. She looked down at the knife and tossed it onto the bed. "Yeah," she replied and leaped back onto the bed, behind her. "I just thought I heard something outside."

"It sounded like you were talking to someone in here. Was someone here?" Sam asked, shutting the door behind him and walked over to set the bag of drinks on the table.

"Uh, nope. Just me. I was…talking to myself. I do that sometimes when I'm alone," she lied.

Sam looked at his niece, strangely. "Okay, Peanut," he told her, letting it go.

Sarah let out a quiet breath of air, relieved. She then thought about what Ruby had told her, not really sure she could trust her. But Sarah was curious though and as much as she hated the idea, her mother did tell Mark everything. They were pretty much best friends, after all. The question was, though, if Mark knew something then why didn't the yellow-eyed demon kill him too like he had killed her mother?

Sam ordered the pizza which the two of them didn't have much time to wait. Dinner was in silence as Sarah contemplated the idea of calling her second-cousin. A couple times, Sarah would cough again, concerning Sam.

He reached over and felt Sarah's forehead. "You feeling all right, Peanut?" he asked her, concerned.

"Yeah, probably just a minor cold. I'll be fine." Sarah continued eating.

Towards the end of the meal, Dean called Sam's cell phone, telling him there was a job in town. Dean explained how there were more freak accidents that didn't even make the paper, all of men.


	83. Chapter 82

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 82

The next morning, Sam and Dean split up to gather research to figure out what they were up against. To Dean's surprise, Sarah went with him. They drove to a couple of the victim's houses and talked to the mothers and inspect where the accidents took place. Sarah asked questions along with her father but on the car ride, she was quiet except for a minor cough or two.

Dean looked over every time she coughed. "What's wrong, Baby Girl?" he asked, switching back and forth between Sarah and the road. "You're been coughing quite a bit since last night."

Sarah coughed again. "I'm fine," she assured her father. "Just a minor cold."

"Minor cold, my ass." He reached over to feel her forehead. "Those are getting more and more hoarse as you keep coughing." Dean pulled his hand back, not feeling a fever. "Maybe you should sit this job out. We can head back to the motel."

"I said I'm fine, Dad," Sarah repeated, annoyed. "It's nothing, I swear."

Dean looked between the road again and Sarah, "You sure?"

"Yes."

Dean let it go but decided to keep a watchful eye on her. Not only that, but he couldn't help stare at his daughter like he was trying to examine each of her features and mannerisms. It had turned out that Sarah was half right. The girl he came to see wasn't married but she had a son a year younger than Sarah. Both kids loved classic rock like Dean did, both of them loved cars like he did. Did he have two kids instead of one? Was it possible Sarah could have a half-brother?

Dean pulled up to the side of road and parked. The two of them got out and went over to another victim's house and spoke to her, pretty much hearing the same story as the first.

On the way back to the Impala, Sarah coughed the biggest cough she had so far, concerning Dean more.

"Baby Girl, I really think you should sit this out. I think you're getting sick," he told her.

"It's just a cough, Dad. That's it. I'm fine, okay," she said.

"You're not fine, Sarah. It sounds like you're trying to cough up a lung."

Sarah kept walking, ignoring her father. When she reached the Impala, she happened to look over at a kid around her age, sitting on a bench. His head was down. Sarah felt something was wrong and wanted to see if she could help. "I'll be right back, Dad," she told her father and walked over to the kid.

Dean looked over at where she was heading and recognized the kid as his friend's son he met the day before and followed after his daughter.

Sarah sat down on the bench beside him. "Hi, I'm Sarah," she introduced herself.

"I'm Ben," the kid replied.

"What's wrong, Ben?" Sarah asked, concerned as Dean walked up.

"Hey, Ben," he greeted the kid.

Ben looked over at Dean. "Hey," he said, "you were at my party."

Sarah looked between her father and Ben. Dean hadn't told Sam or Sarah what had happened when he met up with his friend. It was strictly job-reacted. "You two know each other?"

Dean walked over to sit on Sarah's other side. "We met yesterday," he told her and turned his attention to Ben. "I'm Dean."

Ben looked down for a second before he stared over at a group of kids. Sarah knew that look anywhere, from being bullied once or twice, herself. She looked over where he was staring and looked back at him, noticing the empty carrying case in his hands.

"Those kids over there steal your game, huh?" Sarah nodded at the case.

He nodded. "Ryan Humphrey borrowed it. Now he won't give it back."

"Want me go get it for you?" she asked.

Dean offered too.

"No, don't go over there," Ben told them suddenly. "Only bitches send a girl or a grown-up."

Dean raised his eyebrows at him, "You're not wrong," he said, receiving an elbow to the stomach. It wasn't too painful though.

Ben shook his head, leaning back, "And I am not a bitch."

Dean and Sarah exchanged looks between each other before they looked over at the group of boys again. "Is Ryan the one who needs to lay off the chocolate cake?" Sarah asked Ben.

Ben looked up at the boy, smiling a little and nodded.

Sarah explained to Ben what her father had taught her about using their small size against them. Dean threw in a few suggestions too. When Ben understood what to do, he stood up and walked over to the group of boys. He looked back one last time where Dean and Sarah gave him a thumb's up before he looked forward and got Ryan's attention.

The two of them watched as Ben asked for his game back. When Ryan stepped closer to him, Ben didn't say a word and acted like he was going to walk away before he kicked Ryan in the private area and pushed him down. Once Ryan lied on the ground in pain, Ben took his game back, and hurried back over to Sarah and Dean.

"Dude, that was awesome," he said, cheerfully.

"Up high," Dean told him, exchanging high fives with him.

Sarah held her hand up to him too which Ben accepted. "Nice one, Ben," she praised him.

Suddenly, a woman walked over as Ben sat down in his same spot, "Benjamin Isaac Braeden. What's gotten into you?"

"He stole my game," Ben tried to protest.

"So you kick him?" she asked of him. "Since when is…?" She looked over at Dean, realizing who was sitting there. Dean looked away which Sarah hadn't noticed.

"Please, ma'am," Sarah tried to stick up for the kid. "It was my idea. Ben didn't want my dad or me to go over there so I told him about sticking up to a bully."

Ben's mother looked between Dean and Sarah. "Please don't teach my son anything," she told Sarah and turned on Dean, grabbing him up to talk to him privately.

Sarah or Ben couldn't hear what the adults were saying but Sarah tried, leaning forward a little and tried to play it cool when Ben's mother walked over to take a hold of his hand.

Dean tried to call out to her, "Lisa."

"Please, leave us alone." Ben and his mother walked away.

Sarah watched them go as she stood up until Ben suddenly bolted back to hug her and Dean, thanking them. Sarah couldn't help feel a sense of protectiveness for the kid. Something about Ben made her wonder but could not figure out why.

Dean noticed Sarah watching Ben walk away to rejoin his mother. When Ben and his mother, Lisa was gone he told Sarah to sit down and kneeled in front of her. "Baby Girl, you know how we came here so I could see an old friend of mine?" he began.

Sarah nodded, "Yeah. Was that her?"

He nodded. "And remember when I said it had been eight years since I last saw her?"

"Dad, where are you going with this?" she asked, looking at him, suspicious.

Dean looked at the ground as he sighed. "She said he wasn't but there might be a chance that…." He paused.

"A chance for what?"

"Ben could be your brother," he finally let out.

Sarah sat there in shock. Her eyes grew wide at what her father just told her. "I might have a brother? Like…like you?" she asked.

"Well, half-brother," Dean corrected.

Sarah looked over her left shoulder where Lisa and Ben had gone.

"Look, I understand if you're angry but don't take it out on them, okay?" he continued. "Maybe Ben isn't your brother. Maybe I'm over thinking the whole thing, who knows. But what I do know is that nothing will ever change between us. I am still your dad and no matter what I will always love you. Even if I do have another kid, I wouldn't love you any less than them, I swear."

Sarah looked forward again and up at her father. Her thoughts were slowly wrapping around the possibly of having a brother, that she wasn't an only child.

"You probably won't have to share me though. I don't think Ben's mom appreciates me being here." Dean forced a smile for his daughter.

Sarah coughed to the side, into the side of her fist. "I know it sounds selfish and I hate myself for thinking it but I don't want to have share you. I mean, I have to share you with Uncle Sam… I don't know, it's different," she looked down at her lap.

Dean wrapped his arms around her, on the bench. "You just don't want someone else calling me, dad," he smiled. "You're still my baby girl though and you will always be."

Sarah looked up at her father again and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry about being distance from you, the last couple of weeks and pushing you away when all you wanted was to spend time with me. It's just…it…it's hard to accept the fact you're gonna be gone in a year. How can I have all this fun with you when I know it'll be over this time, next year? How can I live with that?"

Dean held his daughter in his arms, trying to fight off his own tears. "I know, Baby Girl. I know," he assured her. "It'll be alright, I promise. You'll have Sam and Bobby, and Ellen, maybe Jo. You have so many others who love you too and will take care of you."

"But what about you?" she sniffed from his left shoulder, wiping her eyes. "I love everyone too but I want my dad."

He held onto her tighter. He couldn't do it anymore, the tears were just too strong and they fell from his eyes.

Sarah could tell her father was crying by the sound of his breathing and tried to lighten the mood. "It would be kind of cool having a little brother to pick on and watch out for," she tried to say with a slight grin.

Dean couldn't help smile either and let go to look at her. "If it's any consolation, I think you'd make a great big sister," he told her.

Sarah smiled at her father and hugged him again. "I love you, Dad," she said from his shoulder.

"I love you too, Baby Girl," he replied and held her once more, finally noticing three kids staring over at him, creepily.

After a long day of research, Dean decided to grab a bite to eat from a local diner, finally spending some quality time with his daughter. They talked and laughed through the whole meal, grossing out the other people eating with a burping contest. The way Dean and Sarah were laughing though, one would think they were the only two people there. It felt great to Dean to be able to laugh again and have some fun with his daughter. It ended when Sam called to ask where they were and to let them know what he had found.

While Dean paid the bill, Sarah headed for the restroom, really quick. However, she was gone for an awful long time that worried Dean. He walked over to the restroom and knocked, putting his ear to the door.

"Sarah, what's taking so long?" he called through the door.

The door opened and Sarah walked out, smiling up at him. "Sorry, Daddy. I didn't mean to take so long," she told him and hugged his legs. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Baby Girl," he told her, taken by surprise. Sarah wasn't the one to suck up like that. Dean could sense something was wrong but couldn't put his finger on it. "Come on, Sam's waiting for us."

The two of them headed out to the Impala and headed for the motel. The whole time, Dean kept noticing how much Sarah was smiling at him and not in a cute, adorable way.

"You okay, Sarah?" he finally asked of her. "I mean we had a moment earlier at the park and all, but you're usually not this happy."

"I'm fine, Daddy," she said and moved over to hug his arm. "You're the best daddy in the whole world."

"Okay…" Dean happened to look up and catch a glimpse in the rear-view mirror of his daughter. He adjusted it to get a better look and saw Sarah's face looked corpse-like. Dean slammed on his brakes and pushed her off of him. "You're not my daughter. What did you do with her?"

"Daddy, it's me," she told him, calmly.

He shook his head, "No, you're not Sarah. Tell me where she is."

"But it is me."

Dean didn't know what to do. Sam hadn't really said anything over the phone. They were waiting until they got back to the motel. He decided to turn back forward and drive back to the motel, ignoring the thing that looked like his little girl. _Sam, you had better have found a way to gank these sons of bitches!_ He thought.

Sarah slowly sat up, holding her head. She peered around through the darkness, trying to figure out where she was and realized she was in some sort of cage. There were other cages around too, with dark figures huddled inside. She quickly took out her flashlight and turned it on, shining it into the other cages.

"Are you all okay?" she asked when she saw they were all kids like her, sitting on her legs. They whimpered, nodding their heads at her when Sarah shined the light on each of them. "Don't worry, my dad, uncle, and I, we're gonna get you out of here. Have you seen what took us?"

"It's a monster," one of the kids replied, wanting to cry.

"Sarah? Is that you?" a familiar voice said in the cage behind her.

Sarah turned around and shined the flashlight inside the cage. It was Ben. "Ben?" she asked, surprised. "They took you too?"

He nodded. "What's going to happen to us?"

"Nothing, Ben," she tried to assure him. "Everything's gonna be just fine, I promise." Sarah stood up, onto her knees to dig out her father's lockpick she swiped from him one time. Sometimes, being a pickpocket really did pay off.

Sticking her hands through the cage, Sarah started picking at the lock that held her cage closed, holding the flashlight upward, between her knees. After five minutes, the lock finally clicked and Sarah was able to crawl out. She hurried over to Ben's cage first and picked at his lock.

After forty minutes, Sarah had every lock picked. With Ben's help, surprisingly, she kept the kids calm as they figured out to bust out. She noticed a window but wasn't sure how they would reach it. It was Ben who pointed out a bucket they could stand on. Sarah and Ben carried it over and set it down underneath the window where Sarah stood on it and tried to open it. It wouldn't budge.

Sarah jumped down and looked around for something to break the window. There was some tools inside a toolbox in one of the corners so Sarah grabbed a hammer out of it and rushed back to jump up, onto the bucket again.

"Back up!" she ordered the other kids who listened, including Ben before she smashed the hammer through the window, shielding her own face and used it to knock the rest of the glass out.

At that point, Dean was there at the window. "Sarah? Is that you?" he asked, worried.

"Yeah, Dad. All the kids are here too," she told him and removed her jacket to lay it on the window. Sarah jumped down and helped the first kid up. Ben jumped in to help too, making sure they got up where Dean could pull them out. Dean couldn't help notice how similar the two of them were at that moment.

When the last of the kids were out, Sarah told Ben to go first. As Ben climbed up, Sam hurried in. "Dean, there's a mother," he yelled.

Sarah looked back at her uncle, quickly. "A mother what?" she asked.

"Changeling, that's what took you and the other kids," Sam explained.

"Uncle Sam, there's a woman over in that cage. I picked the lock but she can't move."

"Where?" he asked, looking around.

Sarah pointed to a cage at the far end, "There." Sam turned around to find the changeling standing there.

The changeling knocked Sam back. Once Ben was outside, Dean squeezed through the window and lifted his daughter up from behind her, up to the window and pushed her through.

"Dad, I can't help?" she asked of her father.

"Help keep the other kids safe. Go, Sarah!" he ordered her.

Sarah nodded. She grabbed her jacket and jumped up to her feet and hurried over to where the kids were standing, throwing her jacket back on. "Everyone still okay?" she asked.

They nodded.

One of the girls screamed when she saw a changeling that looked exactly like one of the boys. Sarah jumped in front of the other girl and shielded the kids, but didn't know what to do. Of all the monsters she read about, Sarah didn't recall coming across anything on changelings.

"It's okay, everything's gonna be just fine." Sarah assured them. She glanced over and noticed her father's duffel bag on the ground but it was over by the window. She didn't want to leave the other kids unprotected. Plus, she wasn't even sure if guns would work on the changeling.

Suddenly, the changeling burst into flames and was gone. Sarah blew a sigh of relief and turned around to check on the kids again, making sure they were all right. Soon, Sam and Dean joined them, carrying the real woman out, setting her on the ground.

Sarah ran over and jumped into her father's arms.

"Oh, Sarah. Thank God you're all right, Baby Girl," he said, squeezing her tight and kissed the side of her head before putting her down. "Are the other kids okay?"

Sarah nodded, "Terrified out of their mind and I'm sure there will be weeks of nightmares after tonight, but they're just fine."

Ben was standing there too.

Dean smiled over at him and touched the side of his head. "You okay, Ben?" he asked.

He nodded, "Thanks to Sarah."

"You helped too," Sarah pointed out to the boy.

"But you did most of it," Ben said.

Dean smiled at the two of them. If only… He shook his head from his thoughts and stood up, straight. They made sure the kids and the woman got home, safely before taking Ben home.

On the drive to Ben's house, Sam who was driving this time looked over, between him and Dean, to see Sarah and Ben asleep. What surprised Sam was the fact she had her arm wrapped, protectively around him like Dean used to do when they were kids.

"Dean," he said, quietly, getting his brother's attention and nodded down at the kids.

Dean looked down at the kids. It was the most amazing sight he had ever seen, aside from Sarah's first target practice back at Bobby's house. He smiled. Neither of the men disturbed the kids until Sam pulled into the driveway of Ben's house and Dean woke both of them up.

Lisa was runing out as Dean stepped out to let Ben out, shutting it once Sarah climbed out. Ben ran to his mother who hugged him to her.

"What the hell just happened?" she demanded of Dean.

"I'll explain everything if you want me to," he told her. "But trust me, you probably don't. Important thing is that Ben's safe." Dean touched the boy's head again.

Lisa looked at her son and over at Dean again. "Thank you," she said and hugged him. "Thank you."

Sarah cleared her throat, loudly, or tried to until another cough came up.

Lisa stepped back when Sam said, "I'm gonna give you guys some time. Come on, Peanut." He gestured for his niece.

Sarah looked over at her uncle and then over at her father. She didn't want to leave but her father gave her nudge towards the car.

"I'll be there in a little bit, Baby Girl," he assured her. "We're not staying long, you know that."

Sarah gave in and turned to Ben to say good-bye, hugging him before walking back to the Impala. Sam pulled out of the driveway and headed back to the motel where he headed into the bathroom first.

While he was in there, Sarah remembered what Ruby had said and went over to grab the phone, dialing her second cousin's phone number, making sure to dial *67 first to block the number.

Mark picked up on the third ring. "This is Mark," he said.

Sarah hesitated at first. "Mark, it's Sarah."

"Sarah? Where are you? We've been looking everywhere for you," he said, suddenly. "Where are you?"

"Not important right now." Sarah got down to business but kept her voice down and alert for her uncle. "You and Mom were best friends. I want to know about what happened the night Aunt Kyra died or anything Mom told you that would be linked to it."

"Why?" Mark questioned.

Sarah tried to hold in her frustration. "Just tell me, Mark. I don't have a lot of time here," she hissed. "Did Mom say anything about it? Did she know it would happen?"

She could hear Mark sigh. "I told your mom to get an abortion and I thought I had finally talked her into it too."

"Gram said someone talked her out of it," Sarah said.

"Yes, some guy with yellow contacts. He said he could sense something special about you. I told your mom he must have been loony to be talking about what sounded like fortune teller stuff but she said she had no choice. You had to be born. Guess maybe God has something big planned for you or something. Hey, who knows, maybe that was an angel." Mark laughed a little.

"Trust me, that was no angel," Sarah mumbled to herself.

"What was that, Sarah?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said, quickly. "Did Mom say anything else?"

"Okay, what is this sudden thing with your mom? I mean, you don't ever call us, your dad moves you around to where we can't find you. Now, out of the blue, you're calling and asking about her?"

"Look, I can't explain it, okay. Just tell me what Mom told you," she told him.

"There isn't anything else, really. Your mom only knew so much, herself," Mark replied. "To tell the truth, I don't even think she told me everything. She always said she was afraid of you."

"Well, duh, I basically figured that one out," Sarah rolled her eyes, sarcastically.

"She sometimes called you a demon child," he added.

Sarah froze. So Emily knew about Yellow Eyes and the demon blood? Made sense why she would be afraid of Sarah.

"I couldn't believe it," he said. "I mean, you can be obnoxious and a brat at times, but you were still the sweetest and thoughtful kid I know. What kid like that could cause the end of the world? I'm telling you, Sarah, I tried getting your mom some help. We all did, but she was messed up. Of course, I would be too if an unexpected pregnancy ruined my life plans too so…"

"Screw you, Mark," and with that, Sarah hung up the phone.

Sarah jumped when she heard her uncle, "Did you just call your cousin?" he had asked.

Sarah made to stand up, fast and felt a dizzy spell. Since her father woke her and Ben up, Sarah had been feeling weak but continued like everything was fine. She felt hot and flushed now, though and fell back onto the other bed and coughed once more.

"Okay, Dad was right. I think this is more than a cold," she admitted.

Sam hurried over and felt her forehead. "Peanut, you're burning up," he told her. "Here." Sam pushed back the comforter of the bed Sarah was sitting on before and lifted his niece up to lay her down. He removed her shoes and covered her up before calling Dean.


	84. Chapter 83

**With the job-search and being more involved with my church, it took me a little bit longer to get this chapter out. Plus, I kept redoing this too. This isn't an episode, though I wasn't expecting it to turn out this long.**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 83

Dean had rushed to the motel once Sam had called him about Sarah and immediately took her to the hospital. The nurses took down Sarah's information while in the meantime, Dean was a nervous wreck. He held his daughter the whole process before they were finally led to a room where they waited for a doctor to come in. Dean paced the floor, continuing to hold Sarah as he sang their favorite _Led Zeppelin _song to her.

Sam sat in one of the chairs, checking his text messages. When he finished, Sam looked up. "Dean, will you calm down? It's probably just a cold or the flu."

Sarah was holding onto her monkey as she kept her head on her father's right shoulder. Dean was sweating from the heat that was coming off her. She felt so weak Sarah could barely lift her head as she coughed more frequently.

Dean rubbed her back, up and down, resting his head against hers, ignoring his brother. It pained him to listen to his little girl cough and shake slightly which had started up on the way to the hospital.

Eventually, after a fifteen minute wait, the doctor walked in. "Sorry about that, it's been busy around here. What can I do for you…" the doctor quickly looked at her chart, "Sarah?"

Dean started to speak but seeing how he was still in a panicking state, Sam stepped in. "For the past few days, my niece had this cough that started out small and turned into a dry, hacking sound," he explained to the doctor. "And just this morning, she developed a fever."

"Well, let's take a look." The doctor set her chart down on the counter and walked over to the examination bed.

Dean didn't want to put his daughter down but followed the doctor anyway, placing Sarah on the foot of the examination table, staying close to her side while the doctor got the ear thermometer ready and placed it into her right ear.

"How long has she had the fever, this morning? Did she wake up with it or did it start after she woke up…?" the doctor asked while they waited for the thermometer to beep.

"We're not sure, my brother here discovered it about an hour ago," Dean was able to say before his brother could cut in. Last he checked, until the year was up, Sarah was still his.

"But the cough started a few days ago," she said.

He nodded. "Sarah's been healthy the last two years she's been with us."

"Colds and the flu can strike anyone, regardless if you're healthy or not. Some kids avoid it one year and catch it the next. It depends on what they are exposed to." The thermometer beeped which the doctor removed it from Sarah's ear to read the screen. "A hundred and two," she said and walked away to throw the plastic ear cover away in the trash and mark the temperature on her chart.

Dean tried to hold down his worry. "Is that bad?" he asked, urgency in his voice.

The doctor shook her head, "It's not in the danger zone. Sarah will be fine." She walked back over to Sarah and used her stethoscope to check her heart and lungs before doing the rest of the procedures. "It does seem like the flu though." The doctor turned her attention to Sarah, "does your tummy hurt at all? Like you're going to throw up?"

Sarah looked at the doctor from where she was resting her head against her father. "I'm nine years old, ma'am," she told her, weakly, "please don't talk to me like I'm five."

"I'm sorry," the doctor told her, politely. "Does your stomach feel upset?"

She shook her head. "No, but my whole body aches all over."

The doctor nodded and turned to Dean, looking back at Sam too, "Yeah, it's defiantly the flu. There's nothing I can do unfortunately."

Dean glared over at the doctor, "What do you mean there's nothing you can do?" he asked. "Can't you give her some medicine?"

She shrugged, "You can give her some acetaminophen or ibuprofen to help reduce the fever but the flu is a viral infection and can't be cured with antibiotics. Just make sure she gets lots of rest the next few days and drinks plenty of fluids. All you can do is wait it out, I'm afraid."

Dean looked over at Sam, who nodded back to show what the doctor said was true. He calmed down a little before he thanked the doctor. She offered to give Sarah something now to reduce the fever but Dean told her they had a bottle of ibuprofen in the car. The doctor finished her routine and had Dean sign a couple forms before the Winchesters could leave.

Dean carried his daughter out to the Impala and drove around to find a motel with a kitchen this time. When the motel was picked, Sam drove to the nearest grocery store on a supply run, to pick up some stuff for Sarah, and beer and other stuff for him and Dean.

While Sam was gone, Dean placed Sarah down on one of the beds and helped remove her boots and jacket before covering her up with the comforter. He then walked over to the small kitchen area to take a glass from one of the upper cabinets and filled it with water, washing it first. Next, Dean unscrewed the cap off of the ibuprofen bottle and dumped an already broken pill into his right palm. He took the water and pill over to his daughter and set the water on the nightstand so he could help her sit up.

Sarah took the pill halve from her father and placed it in her mouth and gulped down the water so she could swallow it before falling back onto the pillow. Dean took the glass over and set it in the sink before grabbing the remote off the top of the TV and went back over to sit beside Sarah, turning the TV on.

"What's your TV preference right now?" he asked her. "Cartoons?"

"Sure," she replied, snuggling against his left side and stared over at the TV.

Dean channel-surfed until he came to _Cartoon Network _and stopped. Once Sam returned, Dean got started on lunch, making tomato-rice soup. There may have been some things Dean purposely forgotten about his childhood but there were just a few things he couldn't and his mother making him tomato-rice soup was one of them. He remembered watching her once making it and made it a couple times for Sam when they were older and Sam had gotten sick while John was out on a hunt.

While Dean cooked, Sam wet a washcloth in the bathroom sink and wrung it out and brought it over to place it across Sarah's forehead. Once it was there, Sarah motioned for him to move closer with her right hand. He lowered his left ear to her so Sarah could whisper, "I need to talk to you, privately about something. When Dad's not around, okay."

Sam glanced over at his brother, who had his back to them, stirring the soup and looked back at his niece. "Okay, Peanut," he told her. "Want some juice? I got grape and orange."

She nodded, slowly at him, "Orange, please."

Sam reached down to kiss her head above the wash cloth and grabbed the glass from the nightstand before standing up. He grabbed the carton of orange juice from the bag on the table and poured some into the glass, taking it back to his niece. Sam helped prop her up, against the headboard, placing the pillow against her head and back since the soup was almost ready, and handed her the glass of juice. Sarah took it and drank some before setting it on the nightstand and continued watching cartoons.

When the soup was cooked, Dean poured some into a bowl and took it over to his daughter, holding a potholder underneath, sitting on the edge of the bed. He, very carefully handed the bowl to her. "Careful, it's hot," he told her.

"What is it?" Sarah asked and took a bite, blowing on it first.

"Tomato-rice soup, just like my mom used to make when I got sick," he smiled.

"It's good," Sarah complimented.

"Thanks," he said and looked over at his brother, "There's more if you're hungry, Sam."

"Uh, no thanks," Sam told him, politely. "We can save the rest for Sarah's dinner tonight. I bought a few things for us to eat too." He turned back to his niece, "I got some saltines, Peanut. Want some to eat with your soup?"

"Yes, please," she replied, politely.

Sam stood up to walk back to the table and took out a box of saltine crackers from one of the grocery bags and opened the box, and then one of the packages, taking it over to set on the nightstand where Sarah could reach them.

"Thank you, Uncle Sam," Sarah told him, reaching for a cracker.

Sam smiled, "You're welcome, Peanut."

Right as Sarah dipped the cracker in the soup a huge cough came up, making Dean immediately place his hands around the bowl so it wouldn't spill. It burned his hands in the process though but it didn't bother him.

"You okay, Baby Girl?" he asked, concerned when he removed his hands, rubbing them on his jeans.

Sarah nodded, coughing a little now.

"Maybe Sarah should eat at the table," Sam suggested. "That way nothing will spill on the bed or on the floor."

Dean agreed and took the bowl from his daughter to carry it over to the table, carefully. Sam pushed the comforter back and was going to lift her up but Sarah wanted to walk over there, herself. Sarah slowly made her way over to the table with her uncle walking behind her and sat down on one of the chairs as Sam set the crackers and her juice beside her bowl.

Sarah picked up her spoon again and tried to fish out the cracker she had dropped. Sam had gone over to sit on his bed, turning on his laptop but Dean sat down at the table across from his daughter. When she ate half of the soup, Dean decided to run a warm bath for her, making sure it wasn't too hot and left her alone to get undressed and relax for a while.

While Sarah soaked in the tub, Dean poured what was left of the soup Sarah didn't eat in the trash and washed the bowl and spoon in the sink. The soup still in the pot, he covered with the pot lid and placed in the fridge, along with the groceries Sam had bought.

"You couldn't put the groceries away?" he questioned his younger brother.

Sam was checking his email. "Hey, I bought them and carried them all inside from the car. I figured you can put them away," he said, not lifting his eyes from the screen.

Dean walked over to the other bed, "Bitch," he told Sam.

"Jerk," Sam replied.

Dean flopped down on the bed and picked up the remote so he could find something else to watch. "Man, I hate daytime TV," he thought out loud to no one in particular as he flipped through a dozen channels.

"Want to rent a movie tonight?" Sam suggested.

"Tonight? What about right now? There's nothing on," Dean said, annoyed.

Sam sighed up at the ceiling and looked over at his brother, "Okay, do you want me to go rent a movie now?"

Dean looked at him too. "The last time I let you rent a movie, you came back with a lame one. No thanks." He turned back to the TV to continue channel-surfing.

He shrugged, "I can stay with Sarah while you rent a movie."

"Sarah may need me while I'm gone," he said, quietly, not removing his eyes from the TV.

Sam sat there, watching his brother before he replied, "Sarah's gonna need you the rest of her life but you don't seem to want to be saved."

Dean didn't respond. He stopped on a cooking show, going into his thoughts.

"I don't get you, Dean," he continued. "You act like this overly protective father that wants your daughter's safety but you won't let us help you out of this. So what if you made a mistake, no dad is perfect. Hell, our dad is living proof of that."

"You don't understand, Sam." Dean was staring down at the bed, in front of him.

Sam waited for his brother to continue but Dean didn't say anything else. "What don't I understand? About being a dad?" he asked. "'Cause I'm pretty much a second father to Sarah with how much I'm helping you raise her. I get you screwed up and didn't think she could still be alive, Dean. I get the whole not wanting to live without her. Trust me I felt the same way, pretty much when Jessica died. But you gotta forgive yourself, Dean. At least for Sarah."

He shrugged, "There has to be some way to let you out of the deal without me dying. And if there's not, I'm…" Sam trailed off in mid-sentence.

Dean looked over at him, "What?"

"…I'm willing to die again so Sarah can keep her dad." He had hesitated at first.

Dean looked away again. "I can't do it, Sam. I just can't forgive myself," he said after a while."

Sam placed his laptop on the bed beside him and turned around to face his brother, leaning forward on his knees. "Yes, you can, Dean. You're human and sometimes our fears get the best of us. That's okay," he told him. "Besides, what's more important? Punishing yourself or taking care of your daughter?"

He didn't respond or look at his brother.

Sam sat up, straight when he knew his brother wasn't going to answer. "You won't be punishing just yourself, you know. You will also be punishing Sarah." He moved back, to lean against the headboard and placed his laptop back on his lap.

Dean finally looked over at him again, "How?" he asked.

"By willingly going to hell and leaving behind your only kid to grow up without her dad."

Dean looked away, thinking on what Sam was telling him. He didn't want to go to hell and leave his daughter behind, he really didn't.

Before long, Sarah came out of the bathroom, wearing her pajamas and climbed into the bed her father was sitting on and curled up into his lap, bringing him out of his thoughts.

Dean kissed the top of her head. "Did the bath help?" he asked her, softly.

"A little, but I still feel like crap," she replied. Sarah looked over at her uncle. "Uncle Sam."

"What, Peanut?" Sam said as he looked up from his laptop.

"Did you mean it when you said you feel like a second father to me?" Sarah asked him.

Sam smiled at his niece, "You heard that, huh?"

"Well, you weren't exactly whispering out here," she said, sarcastically.

"You're sick as a dog and you're still a smartass?" he asked her.

Sarah snickered into her father's chest, making Dean, smile at her before she answered, "Pretty much."

Sam dropped his head and laughed, quietly to himself. "Come here, Peanut," he told her.

Sarah climbed out of her father's lap and off the bed to make her way over to her uncle's bed and crawled over to sit in his lap. Sam wrapped his arms around his niece and repeatedly kissed her left cheek.

Dean had eventually fallen asleep so Sam took the remote and started searching for something for him and Sarah to watch together. Sarah pointed out _Cheaper by the Dozen _that was just starting on and wanted to watch it. He set the remote on the bed beside him and lied down to cuddle with his niece, propped up against his pillow as they watched the movie together. Sarah kept getting annoyed by the commercial interruptions especially when it interrupted the good parts.

"If it wasn't for commercials, we wouldn't even have TV," Sam reminded her.

"Oh yeah? What about PBS?" she pointed out. "You don't see any commercials on there."

"And once or twice a year, they have to hold a telethon and cancel half their programming to pay to keep everything on the air," he added.

Sarah stuck her tongue out at him, which Sam did the same.

When a particular scene came up, Sarah lifted her head towards the TV. "Uncle Sam, is it me or does that guy look and sound an awful lot like you?" she asked, referring to the bully on the TV.

Sam looked closely at the bully too and shook his head, "Nah, I don't see it."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "He has the same hair and everything."

"Peanut, I think I would recognize if someone looked like me," he told her.

Sarah shrugged and just continued watching the movie, resting her head on the side of her uncle's torso, holding onto her monkey in her right arm. Sam kept his right arm around her too. After fifteen minutes, she started feeling drowsily but tried to fight it, wanting to finish the movie. Towards the end of the movie, both she and Sam were sleeping.

The three of them slept through the rest of the day and into the night. Around two in the morning, Sarah woke up, feeling nauseous. She sat up and made to climb out of the bed. Once her feet hit the floor and she took the first step towards the bathroom, her stomach decided it couldn't wait until she got to the toilet and released its contents all over the floor, between the beds.

Dean instinctively woke up on the spot. A foul smell reached his nostrils, causing Dean to reach for the light on the nightstand and sit up on the edge of the bed to stand and help his daughter to the bathroom before another round hit. And it did.

The minute Dean led Sarah into the bathroom and lifted the seat round two erupted from her stomach and into the toilet. Round three was half as much as the first two and four was the rest. Dean sat on the edge of the tub, rubbing her back during the process as Sarah was keeled over the toilet, trying not to look at it, pressing his nose into the crook of his arm. When it was finally over with, he flushed the toilet and reached over to tear off some toilet paper and wiped around her mouth and her nose.

"Dad, I can clean myself off," she moaned. She was feeling a little worse than before now.

Dean continued, moving down to her bare feet, lifting her pant legs so he could wipe them off, grabbing more toilet paper off the roll. "I don't care," he simply stated as he did so. When he finished and threw the soiled toilet paper into the trash, Dean said, "I'm going to grab another pair of your pajama pants from your duffel bag."

He stood up and left the bathroom, returning with another pair of pajama pants, passing them to Sarah and shut the door so she could change while he cleaned up the vomit on the floor. He looked around the motel room for any cleaning solution but didn't find any. Instead, he had to hurry over to the main office and ask for some.

The manager offered to send someone to clean up the mess for him but Dean declined the offer, explaining it was his kid who threw up and was his responsibility to clean it up. He would have loved to let housekeeping clean it up but they never let housekeeping into their motel rooms. There was no telling what they would find and Dean didn't want to uproot his daughter in the middle of the night while she was fighting the flu and expose her to the chilly night air.

He came back to the motel room with the cleaning solution and started scrubbing up the mess with a rag in one hand, while holding the front of his shirt over his nose with the other, trying not to vomit himself.

Sarah sat on hers and her father's bed, watching him. "Sorry, Daddy," she apologized ashamedly.

Dean looked up at his daughter for a second and returned to scrubbing. "It's not your fault, Baby Girl," he assured her and added, "I don't know how your uncle is sleeping through the smell. Oh God, bleach and vomit stinks."

Sarah lied down, diagonally on the bed and hugged one of the pillows to her, "My stomach still feels nauseous."

Dean looked up again, "Does it feel like you're gonna throw up again?" he asked, worriedly.

She nodded from the pillow.

He stood up and removed the latex gloves he was wearing to lift his daughter up, into his arms and carried her back into the bathroom and set her on her feet, in front of the bathroom. Dean sat on the edge of the tub to rub Sarah's back again as they waited.

Nothing came.

Dean sighed, "I wish I had told Sam to get you some ginger ale or Seven-Up too."

Sarah looked up from where she was leaning on the toilet, at her father, "I saw a soda machine when we were getting out of the Impala."

"Wait here then," Dean told her and stood up. He hurried from the motel room and over to the soda machine. All it had closest to Seven-Up or ginger ale was Sprite. It was close enough and Dean whipped out his wallet he still had in his back pocket and pulled out a dollar bill.

He slipped the dollar bill into the slot and went to push the button for the Sprite. The dollar bill slid back out. "Come on," he muttered and grabbed it to smooth the dollar bill on the corner of the machine and unfolded the corners. The dollar bill came out a second time. "Son of a bitch," Dean muttered some more and tried to smooth it out again.

When the dollar bill came back out a third time, Dean tried another dollar bill, a newer one, this time. When the dollar bill went in, successfully, he forcefully pushed the Sprite button. A can popped out. Dean grabbed it and rushed back to the motel room, finding Sarah kneeled in front of the toilet bowl with her forehead resting on the edge.

"You look like you're recovering from a hangover there," he smirked in the doorway of the bathroom, nodding towards her.

"That's so not funny, right now, Dad," she moaned at him.

"Nothing yet?" he asked.

Sarah shook her head against the toilet bowl. "Guess it was a false alarm," she shrugged.

Dean went over and lifted her up, slowly. Any swift movement and he could be her stomach's next target. He carried Sarah over to the bed and laid her down, covering her up.

Sarah tried to protest, "I don't want the comforter on me, it's too hot."

"You have to, Baby Girl. It'll help break your fever," he explained and kissed the top of her forehead. Dean went over to the cabinet and grabbed a couple crackers and grabbed the soda he left on the counter. He took them over and sat on the bed beside her, handing Sarah the crackers first. "Here, eat this first."

Sarah took the crackers and took a bite from one of them as Dean opened the can of soda. When she finished both crackers, Dean handed her the soda. Sarah took a drink and paused to see if her stomach was going to accept both the crackers and soda. Dean rushed over to grab the trashcan and brought it over just in case. When nothing happened, Sarah took one more drink and passed it back to her father, who took it as she coughed.

Dean told her to lie down as he stood up to place the soda in the fridge for later. The moment she lied down, a coughing fit started, forcing her to sit up again. Dean filled a glass up with water and brought it over to her. Sarah drunk it down as her father placed the pillow he was going to use on top of hers and propped them up, halfway.

"There," he patted the pillows, "Try to lie down now."

Sarah lied back against the pillows. She coughed once but that was about it.

Dean kissed her forehead again and returned to finish cleaning the vomit up. He got up as most as he could and washed his hands before climbing back into bed, himself. Dean reached over his daughter to shut off the light and lied down next to her, wrapping his arm around her. Just as he was falling asleep, Dean realized, he should have given Sarah a dose of ibuprofen to get her through the night.

Reaching back up, Dean turned the light on and gently shook his daughter awake, long enough for her to take the children's ibuprofen Sam had also gotten for her when he went to the store. Sam never felt right, watching his brother give Sarah the adult ibuprofen they kept on them, even if it was just half a pill.

Once Sarah had drank down the medicine from the small cup that came with the bottle, she fell back to sleep. Dean placed the bottle on the nightstand and turned out the light. Hoping his daughter would be able to sleep straight through the rest of the night, Dean fell back to sleep, himself.


	85. Chapter 84 Bad Day at Black Rock(part 1)

**Another chapter rewritten and this time, reuploaded. But as a writer, one has to do what's best for the story. Thank you to that guest who had pointed that out for me. **

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 84

The following morning, Sarah woke up worse than the day before. She didn't even have the strength to get out of bed. In fact, all she did was sleep the whole day. Dean woke her up twice to take her medicine but she fell right back to sleep, afterwards. He woke her up to eat dinner, too but it wasn't long before her stomach pushed it back up.

By the third day, Sarah had some strength back but wasn't one hundred percent feeling better. She still stayed in bed and tried to teach Sam how to play the _Pokémon _card game. It wasn't as fun as playing against her father. Sam was losing badly and to top it off, he played a really weak card against one of Sarah's strongest ones.

"That was a bad move, Uncle Sam," Sarah told her uncle.

"Why is that a bad move?" Sam asked.

The two of them were sitting on Sarah and Dean's bed with the game laid out between them. Dean wandered over, curious.

"It's HP is low and my Celebi can take it out easily," she explained and got up on her hands and knees to get a closer look at Sam's bench Pokémon. "You have three Pokémon that stand a very good chance against beating my Celebi."

"Yeah, Sammy," Dean teased his brother. "Get with the program already."

Sam just scowled at him and asked Sarah, "Okay, can I change my Pokémon?"

"In a real game, no, but since this is only practice, you can," she told him.

Sam took his card back and placed the strongest card he had of his bench Pokémon in its place.

"What attack do you want to use?" Sarah asked him.

"Uh," Sam leaned over to read the attacks that were on the card. "Wreak Havoc, I guess."

Sarah leaned forward on her legs to read it too and leaned back. "You have to flip a coin until you get tails." She grabbed Sam's quarter they were using for the game and handed it to him. Sam took it and flipped it twice before the coin landed on tails. "Okay, the first two cards of my deck get discarded," Sarah explained and took two cards from her deck and placed them in the discard pile, facing her, looking at them first to see what she had lost. "Now it's my turn again." Sarah drew another card from her deck and placed it on the end of her bench Pokémon, and had to cough into her fist.

When the game finished, Dean took over, telling Sam to let him show him the correct way to play. He and Sarah had their own battle with Sam watching. It was a very close match but Sarah won that one, too.

"Brat," Dean teased his daughter, acting like he was angry about losing when he really wasn't.

Sarah shrugged, "What can I say? I'm the Pokémon champ," and laughed as she picked up all her cards.

"Oh yeah?" Dean stood up, onto his left leg and pinned his daughter down on the bed to tickle her all over. Sam joined in, too. Both brothers tickled Sarah until she was laughing so hard, she had tears coming out of her eyes.

"Stop it…you…guys," Sarah said in between laughs as she kept rolling over, trying to protect herself. The brothers kept right on tickling the little girl. Sarah tried to escape when Dean scooped her up, pulling her towards him.

"Nice try, kiddo," he told her with a grin while he held her in his arms, and raised his left hand to grab her stomach and tickle it. Sarah tried to protect her stomach but Dean worked his way around her arms and continued before he finally stopped. He wrapped his arms around his daughter and hugged her, tight.

Sam had found some board games in the motel room so they sat at the table and played those for the rest of the day, watching a movie that night Dean found on one of the movie channels. The only best part of Sarah getting sick was the three of them spending quality, family time with each other but all good things hardly last, especially when you're a Winchester.

Once Sarah was feeling better, another job was started when they received a phone call on John's old cell phone Dean kept charged up in case one of his old contacts called. It had seemed like a storage unit John had kept outside of Buffalo, New York was broken into.

Dean drove all the way there, getting the key from the owner of the building before heading down to John's storage. He unlocked it and slid the heavy, metal door open. Sam and Sarah shined their flashlights inside. Sarah was the first to notice the demon trap on the floor.

"Grandpa wanted to make sure demons didn't get in here," she said.

"There's blood too," Sam added, eyeing the bloody footprints leading into the storage unit.

They walked inside where Dean noticed a trip wire before they continued inside, looking around until he found a dusty old soccer trophy, "1995."

Sam looked back, surprised. "No way," he said, moving back to take it from his brother. "That's my division championship soccer trophy." Sam dusted off more of the dust. "I can't believe he kept this."

Sarah looked over at the brothers, "Don't you have to stay in one place for a few months for that? I thought Grandpa moved you around like we're doing?" she asked. "My little league lasted the whole summer, so soccer should last just as long, right?"

Dean shined his flashlight over at his daughter, "You played little league?" he asked.

"Yeah, when I was six. It was when I started getting into video games and Mom didn't want me sitting around all summer, doing nothing so Papa suggested getting me into sports. I wanted to do Martial Arts but he told me to choose something else so I chose baseball."

He smiled, "Wish I could have been there to see a game. Did you get a home run?"

"Not in one turn. It took at least one or two batters." Sarah was standing behind Sam, looking around a desk. She came across a sawed-off rifle and picked it up. "Hey, did someone make this?" she asked as Sarah looked it over in her hands.

Dean walked around his brother over to her and took it, looking it over, himself. "Oh, wow," he had said. "It's my first sawed-off. I made it myself," he proudly told his daughter. "Sixth grade."

Sarah raised her eyebrows at that, "In school?" she said in disbelief. "I got suspended for two days from school for just drawing a picture of a gun."

"What kind of school was it?" Sam asked her.

"Papa got me into a private school since he hates public schools and didn't want me going to one," Sarah explained.

"That's why. Private schools are usually stricter than public schools, especially back when we were in school." Sam was walking around again. He came to an envelope with a P.O. Box marked to John from… Greg Holden? It was thick and heavy when Sam picked it up. "Peanut, what was your grandfather's name again?"

"Greg Holden, why?" she asked, looking over at her uncle. She and Dean were looking elsewhere now.

Sam looked inside the huge, white cardboard envelope to find dozens of photos. He took out one and shined the flashlight on it, looking at one of a three-year-old girl. On the back it said, _Sarah Lynn at age three_. "Sarah, your grandfather mailed photos of you to our dad," he said, surprised again.

"What?" Sarah was also surprised.

Dean rushed right over, almost knocking his brother over by accident. He grabbed the envelope from him and pulled out a small stack of photos, passing the envelope back to Sam so he could look through them. Sam shined his flashlight over them so the brothers could see. There were photos of Sarah at different ages from three to seven years old. There were also some from the day she was born until Sarah was six months old but after that, until she was three, there wasn't any.

Dean couldn't help stare at a photo of the day Sarah was born, in her mother's arm. It was only of Sarah, though, staring back at the camera, in newborn fashion. She looked so beautiful to him that it almost made him want to cry. Dean masked it though as he continued through the photos.

The next one was of a five-year-old Sarah looking up at the camera from reading what looked like one of those books she has now, sitting crossed-legged on the floor.

"I don't get it," Sam finally spoke as Dean kept looking through the photos. "Why did Sarah's grandfather send these to Dad and not give them to you when you first picked her up?" He looked over the envelope.

"The more important question is why didn't Dad give them to me?" Dean added.

Sam shrugged, "Maybe he forgot?"

"Oh yeah, it's forgettable to give your son pictures of his own kid," he said, sarcastically.

"I don't know, Dean," he said.

Dean continued looking through the photos, stopping at Sarah's little league photo, by herself, holding a bat on her shoulder. "Found your little league picture," he smiled down at Sarah and showed it to her.

Sarah smiled too. "It would have looked better if they didn't schedule the pictures after a game. Gram wasn't too cheerful when I slid into home plate and dirtied up my uniform."

"Isn't that the whole point of sports?" Sam asked. "Getting dirty?"

"You don't know my Gram. She was the only one against me, playing sports and the reason why my mom wasn't thrilled about me being a tomboy," she explained, her arms folded.

"You never told me that," Sam told her.

"I thought I did," Sarah raised an eyebrow, jerking her head back.

"No, that was me the day we met, remember? And I told you can be anything you want to be," Dean reminded her.

"Oh yeah," Sarah remembered.

Dean moved onto another photo to one of Sarah in the bathtub at age three. "Aw," he smiled and Sam did the same when he saw it.

"What?" she asked. Dean showed Sarah the photo which she quickly grabbed from his hand as her face turned beet red from embarrassment and ripped it up.

"Come on, that was my favorite, so far," Dean told her. "It was so adorable I wanted to send it to Bobby."

"Yeah and the hellhounds would be coming for you early if you did," she threatened.

"You're no fun, Sarah." Dean returned to looking at the photos.

"As much as I would like to finish looking at cute photos of Sarah, shouldn't we finish figuring out what those thieves took?" Sam asked, remembering why they were there in the first place.

Dean waved his hand at his brother, "Yeah, yeah. Knock yourself out, Sam," as he looked through them some more.

Sam just shook his head as he smiled. His brother was a father after all and let him have his fatherly moment while he and Sarah continued looking.

"If there are any more naked photos of me, I'm burning them," Sarah called over her shoulder, back at her father.

"Then I won't tell you," Dean replied with a smile, not looking up. He was loving what his brother had found. It was as if he was given a second chance of seeing his little girl growing up, or at least highlights of it. There were so many, Dean wondered if Greg had sent his father all of them. There was even one from Sarah's kindergarten graduation, wearing a paper version of a graduation cap and holding up a diploma. He began to realize again that he had missed so much of his daughter's childhood that he was gonna miss even more of it. That it was Sam and Bobby who were the ones who would watch her grow up and become a woman. Dean couldn't let that happen.

Sam called over to him and Sarah, "Hey, I think I found something."

Dean looked back at his brother and joined him, along with Sarah.

"See these symbols?" Sam pointed out to them with his flashlight.

"What are they for?" Sarah asked.

"They're binding magic," Sam told his niece. "These are curse boxes."

"Curse boxes?"

"Curse boxes," Dean repeated, "They're supposed to keep the evil mojo in like the Pandora deal."

"Pandora? You mean the online radio thing?" Sarah asked.

Dean looked down at his daughter, "How do you not know about the Pandora tale? You know, built to contain the power of a cursed object."

"Well, excuse me for not reading up on everything," she snapped up at her father.

"All right, all right, I'm sorry, okay? No need to bite my head off," Dean mumbled the last part, returning to the boxes, shining his flashlight over all of them. "Dad's journal did mention a whole bunch of stuff, you know? Dangerous hexed items, fetishes. He never did say where they ended up."

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "Well, this must be his toxic waste dump." He noticed one of the boxes was missing from a clean spot on one of the selves that didn't hold any dust. "One box is missing. Great."

Dean turned back to look for himself. "Well, maybe they didn't open it," he shrugged. The Winchesters left, locking the storage back up. Dean, of course, took the envelope of photos with him since technically they were rightfully his to begin with. The photos were of his kid, not John's, though Dean wished he could be in some of them. He was starting to wish he had paid attention to his phone when Emily was supposedly trying to call but he had been still an immature kid who probably would have shunned the role of being a father.

Checking the security camera for any possible suspects, they found one with a Connecticut license plate. Getting back into the Impala, Dean laid the envelope on the seat between him and Sam which Sarah quickly stole before he could stop her.

Dean smiled, looking back at her. "Looking for more adorable, embarrassing photos?" he teased her.

Sarah ignored him and took all the photos out of the envelope and started to go through them. It brought back so many memories for her as she went through them on the drive to the thieves' apartment. Sarah came across one of her the day she won an essay contest. She personally didn't enter it, herself but her second grade teacher had assigned her class to write a story on what they would wish for if they could have anything they wanted and Sarah, because of her smarts, ending up writing a beautifully written piece of if she was given a wish, she would wish to meet her father. It had won first prize and was one of the reasons why they had decided to place her in third grade instead of finishing second.

Sarah leaned over the front seat and held out the photo to show her uncle, "Did you ever win an essay contest, Uncle Sam?"

Sam had been staring out the window when his niece interrupted his thoughts and looked over at her before looking at the photo. "What's this?" he asked, taking it from her.

She sighed and repeated herself.

"No but I remember writing a story in high school, one of my English teachers really liked," he told her.

"Really? So you got an A then?" Sarah asked, curious.

Sam nodded. "Yours must have too," he smiled at the photo of his niece as feelings of being a proud uncle washed over him.

"I'm still curious as to why Dad would keep those photos for himself. I am also curious as to why Sarah's other grandfather didn't just hand them over to me while I was there," Dean said, bitterly.

Sam passed the photo back to Sarah. "Maybe Sarah's grandfather wasn't thinking about the photos at the time until it was too late so he sent the photos to Dad, hoping they would eventually get to you," he guessed. "And since it was addressed to Dad, Dad took it as they were for him."

"If the guy wanted me to have them, he would have put my name on the envelope, don't you think?" Dean pointed out.

"Are you really having an argument about who these were meant for?" Sarah asked, sitting back again. "Who cares? We have them now. What difference does it make who they were meant for?"

Sam leaned back, with his arm on the back of the front seat. "You're right, Peanut. It doesn't matter. The point is, they're ours now," he agreed.

Dean scowled over at his brother but didn't say anything. He wanted the photos to be just his but he guessed since they were of his niece, they were rightfully Sam's, too. Sarah continued looking at the photos, mostly looking for any other photos that might be embarrassing. Her grandmother was usually pretty good at getting those kinds of pictures and Sarah figured there was a high chance, she was the photographer of the one Dean had found. Well, they weren't going to find anymore, not if Sarah could help it.


	86. Chapter 85 Bad Day at Black Rock(part 2)

**In case you missed it, chapter 84 was rewritten. **

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 85

The Winchesters very carefully and quietly walked inside the thieves' apartment with their guns out and when the time was right, jumped out, pointing their guns at the thieves. The thieves jumped, bolting around to face them. Dean pinned one of them to a wall and demanded if they had opened the box or not. It was Sam who noticed the box was open.

The next few minutes were a blur as the Winchesters fought for the box's curse object. When it soared through the air, Sarah quickly reacted and leaped forward to catch it in her hands, sliding on her stomach into the wall. She protected herself upon impact though. When she jumped to her feet again, one of the thieves was pointing her father's gun at her. Luckily, it had stalled and Sarah took the opportunity to punch the guy in the gut, knocking the wind out of him as it sent him to his knees.

"That was a lucky break," Dean said, relieved his daughter was okay. He noticed the object in her hand. "Is that a rabbit's foot?"

Sarah looked down at the object and looked it over. "Yeah, I think so," she replied.

Dean raised his eyebrows at that, "Huh," he let out a breath of air.

While one of the thieves was knocked out and the other one was in pain, on the floor, the Winchesters grabbed the box and their guns, and got out of there. Dean stopped at a convenient store, buying several scratchers while Sarah picked out a soda and her Cheetos. Sarah didn't think anything of it until they returned to the Impala where Sam was waiting for them and Dean turned in his seat to face her.

"Today, I am gonna teach you a very important life lesson," he told her.

"What's that?" she asked, opening her hot Cheetos.

Dean pulled a scratcher from the brown paper bag and held it to show her. "Scratchers," he replied.

Sam looked up at that and rolled his eyes. "Nice, Dean," he told his brother, sarcastically.

"What?" Dean shrugged, innocently.

"Exploit your own daughter for money."

"I am not exploiting my daughter for money, I am teaching her the value of a dollar," he explained, thinking up the best excuse he could.

"How are scratchers going to teach her the value of a dollar?" Sam asked.

Dean sat there, looking towards the ceiling with his eyes, "Well, uh….It helps to…"

"You have no idea, do you?"

"Come on, can't I have a little fun with my daughter? The money she wins can go towards her…her college fund. Yeah, that's right. I'm doing this for Sarah so she can go to college."

Sarah was leaning her elbows on the back of the front seat. "Dad, I heard those things have a very low percentage of winning," she told him.

Dean held the scratcher out to her, "How sure are you of those odds?" he smirked.

She glared at her father and grabbed it out of his hand. Sarah didn't know much about the lottery but she seen Mark scratch them off once in a while. Dean handed her a penny too which she took. She scratched it off and passed it back to her father.

Dean couldn't believe it. "Twelve hundred dollars. Sarah, you just won twelve hundred dollars," he looked back over his right shoulder." Dean laughed, feeling like a proud father and reached back to plant a huge kiss on his daughter's cheek.

Sarah pushed her father away, annoyed. "That was a lucky break," she said.

"Exactly my point, Baby Girl," he cocked a grin at her. "Here, try another."

"Dean, that object has to be cursed or something. Otherwise, Dad wouldn't have locked it up," Sam tried to tell him.

"Doesn't seem that cursed to me," he shrugged, waiting for Sarah to take the next scratcher from him.

"Dad, have you ever heard the old saying, if a deal's too good to be true, it probably is?" Sarah asked her father.

"Come on, stop being wusses, you two and take the scratcher, Sarah," he said.

Sarah took it. While Sarah scratched all the scratchers off, Sam made a call to Bobby for help.

"Look, Bobby, we didn't know," Sam was telling the older hunter.

"And you let Sarah touch it?" Bobby demanded of him. "Damn it, Sam."

"Well, Dad never told us about it," Sam tried to protest. "I mean, you knew about his storage in Black Rock?"

"His lock up?" he asked, "Yeah, I knew. Hell, I built those curse boxes for him. Listen, you have got a serious problem. That rabbit's foot ain't no dime-store notion. It's real hoodoo. Old World stuff."

Sarah was sitting on the passenger's side of the hood while Sam talked on the phone and Dean counted the scratchers amount up. A Pokémon card blowing across the asphalt caught her eye. She jumped down and stopped it with her foot and picked it up to look at it. It was a Pokémon card she always hoped would be in a package she got but never was.

She hurried over to show her father, "Dad! Dad! Look what I found!" Sarah showed him the Pokémon card.

Dean looked at it. "Wow, is that a really powerful guy?" he asked, excited for his daughter.

"Yeah, I've wanted Mewtwo for a long time and I finally found one," she told him.

He smiled at her. "Well, want to know something else?" he asked.

"What?" she asked.

"We're up fifteen grand."

Her eyes grew wide, "That's a lot."

At that point, Sam hung up with Bobby and walked over to them. "Sarah, where's the foot?" Sam asked her.

She lifted her left foot, "Right here," she grinned at her uncle.

Sam wasn't amused. "You know what I mean, Sarah Lynn," he told her, sternly.

Sarah dug into her leather jacket pocket and pulled out the rabbit's foot to show her uncle. "Fine," she told him, "it's right here, why?"

"You cannot lose that, Peanut. Bobby says, if the foot gets lost then your luck turns on you and it'll eventually kill you."

That pretty much drained everything from Sarah's face as she stared up at Sam. "What?" she questioned and stared at the rabbit's foot in her hand until she eventually shrugged. "Eh. I don't lose things, so that shouldn't be a problem."

Sam looked at his niece, sadly. He didn't even want to mention that Bobby told him that eventually, everyone loses the rabbit's foot. Sam exchanged looks with Dean who seemed like he wasn't enjoying their newfound luck anymore.

Feeling hungry, the Winchesters decided to head over to a restaurant to grab something to eat while they wait for Bobby to find a way to break the spell and keep Sarah alive. Dean already had hell and leaving his daughter on his conscious, he didn't need his daughter dying too.

The moment the three of them stepped up to the front counter, the Winchesters were bombarded by balloons and streamers falling from the ceiling as the host placed a large, cardboard sign in Sam and Dean's arms. There was a flash as one of the employees took their picture while others blew on noise makers. Once the commotion died down, the Winchesters were seated at a booth where they ordered their drinks first.

Sarah sat on the outside, next to her father. Once they ordered their food, Sarah stared at her newfound Pokémon card. "I can't believe I have Mewtwo in my collection now."

Sam looked up from where he was turning on his laptop. "Just be careful, Peanut. We don't want anything to happen to you."

"Will you relax, Uncle Sam," Sarah patted her jacket pocket that held the rabbit's foot. "It's right here, safe and sound. Like I said before, I don't lose things."

Dean was drinking his coffee. "What about when you lost your game?" he reminded her.

"That was not my fault," Sarah told him, pointing at her father. "It had fallen out of my pocket when I fell."

"The point is, you lost it," he said.

Sarah went silent when she couldn't think of a good comeback to that and drank her root beer. Their food came and the three of them started eating while Sam researched more about the rabbit's foot.

"Bobby's right," he said as Sarah and Dean had finished their meal and was on dessert now. "This lore goes way back. Pure hoodoo." Sam closed his laptop and leaned back in his seat. "You can't just cut one off any rabbit. It has to be in a cemetery, under a full moon, on a Friday the thirteenth."

Both Sarah and Dean seemed to really enjoy the ice cream, but Sarah had a little more self-control about it so she wouldn't catch a brain freeze. Dean, on the other hand, was another story and placed his dish down on the table to clutch his forehead, painfully.

He sighed. "I say from now on," Dean told Sam, "we only go to places with Biggerson's." He groaned, grasping his forehead again.

Sam and Sarah chuckled at Dean's predicament. Sarah had gotten the urge to go, letting her father know she was going to the restroom. She stood up and wandered over to the restroom, going inside. When Sarah was coming back out, she had accidently bumped into their waitress as she was going in.

"I'm so sorry," Sarah apologized, quickly.

"No, no, it's all right," the waitress assured the little girl with a gentle smile.

Sarah moved to the side, holding the door for the waitress as she walked inside the restroom. Once she was inside, Sarah let go of the door and walked back over to her family's table. Unfortunately for Sarah, a younger kid had spilled his drink on the floor and she slipped and fell into an old man who was standing up at that point.

Sam had seen the whole thing. "Oh crap," he said.

"What?" Dean quickly turned to see what Sam was looking at. He had missed it though, but could see Sarah apologizing over and over to the old man before she finally headed back to their table. "Baby Girl, what happened?"

Sarah reached inside her jacket pocket and felt for the rabbit's foot but could feel nothing. "Oh, shit," she said in realization.

"Please tell me you didn't lose the foot," Dean told her, hopeful.

"You want me to lie?" she asked, trying to sound innocent.

Dean smacked his hand to his forehead as Sam held the bridge of his nose.

"Wait." Sarah turned back to the restroom. "That woman."

Sam asked, "What woman?"

"Our waitress. I had the foot when I was leaving the restroom. She must have taken it when I bumped into her." She ran back to the restroom to check to see if the waitress was still in there but she was nowhere to be seen. Not even in the kitchen or behind the counter.

The Winchesters hurried out of the restaurant with Dean in the lead. As they ran, Sarah slipped in an oil spill and landed on the asphalt. Both Sam and Dean stopped suddenly to look back as Sarah pushed herself up with her hands, and went back to help her up.

"Wow, you suck," Dean teased his daughter.

Sarah brushed herself off, brushing off her hands last.

"So what, now your luck turns bad?" he asked.

"Looks like it," she replied, looking up from where she had ripped a hole in the knee of her jeans.

With the waitress nowhere in sight, they decided to head back to the thieves' apartment, walking straight in, very slowly.

One of the thieves was sitting in a chair, looking at a photo and holding an almost drank bottle of beer. "Oh man," he said when he saw the Winchesters. "What do you want?"

"Heard about your friend," Dean told him. "That's bad luck."

"Piss off," the thief told him, bitterly.

"We know someone hired you to steal the rabbit's foot. A woman."

Oh, yeah?" he replied, sarcastically. "How do you know that?"

Dean was standing there, stiffly as he stared at the guy, holding his gun at his side. "Because she just stole it back from us."

The thief laughed at that.

Sarah glared at him and started to walk towards the thief to knock him in the head when she tripped on the edge of a rug, falling face down on the floor, beside Dean.

Dean kneeled down to help his daughter up, "You okay, Baby Girl?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Dad," she answered, rubbing her nose.

When he knew Sarah was all right, Dean stepped towards the thief, "I want you to tell us her name."

The thief leaned forward to say, "Screw you."

"It wasn't a freak accident that killed your partner," Dean explained.

"What?"

"It was because of the rabbit's foot," Sam spoke up from behind Dean.

The thief chuckled at that. "You're crazy, man," he grinned.

Dean grinned, too. "You know I'm not. You saw what happened, what it did. All the flukes, all the luck. When you lose the foot, that luck goes sour. That's what killed your friend."

He just stared up at Dean.

Dean shook his head down at Sarah, "My little girl here is next. And who knows how many innocent people after that. Now, if you don't help us stop this thing that puts those deaths on your head. Now, I can read people. And I get it. You're a thief and a scum bag. That's fine. But you're not a killer. Are you?"

The thief looked down like he was thinking. Finally, he told the Winchesters about a woman named Lugosi he and his friend worked for. That was all the information he knew, so the Winchesters left the apartment.

Outside, Dean's cell phone rang. He answered it, his foot barely missing a wade of gum that was stuck to the ground. Sam stepped over it too but Sarah stepped right on it, making her stop in her tracks.

"Dean, great news," Bobby told him over the phone. "It wasn't easy, but I found a heavyweight cleansing ritual that should do the trick."

"Bobby, that's, uh, great," Dean told him and looked back at his daughter who was pointing her eyes directly up at the night sky and lifted her foot up to look at it. "Except, Sarah, uh…" He looked forward again, "Sarah lost the foot."

Bobby couldn't believe it. "She what?" he spat.

"Bobby, listen, Sarah was coming out of the restroom and ran into our waitress who was going in. She barely saw the woman in time when she bumped into her. I'm serious. She's in her mid-twenties. And she only gave the guys she hired a name, probably an alias or something." Dean looked over at Sam who was standing next to him. "Luigi or something."

"Lugosi," Sam corrected him.

"Lugosi," Dean repeated it to Bobby.

Bobby asked, "Lugosi?" and thought on why that name sounded so much familiar. "Lugos…Oh, crap. It's probably Bela," he realized.

"Bela Lugosi? That's cute," Dean shrugged.

"Bela Talbot's her real name," Bobby explained. "Crossed paths with her once or twice."

"She knew about the rabbit's foot, is she a hunter?"

"Pretty friggin' far from a hunter," he told him. "But she knows her way around the territory. She's been out of the country. Last I heard she was in the Middle East some place."

Dean exchanged looks with Sam, "Well, I guess she's back."

Bobby nodded, "Which means serious bad luck for you."

"Great," Dean shrugged.

"But if it is Bela…at least I might know some folks who know where to find her."

"Thanks, Bobby," Dean shrugged again. "Again."

"Just look out for your kid," Bobby told him, "ya idiot."

While Dean was talking to Bobby, Sarah tried rubbing her foot along the ground to get the gum wade off. When that didn't work, she sat down on the ground and untied the shoestrings, taking her boot off and took it over to a storm drain to use it to scrap the gum off. Sarah kept trying until her boot slipped out of her hands and down into the storm drain.

"Oh, shit," Sarah muttered as she looked down at it. She quickly lied on her stomach and tried to reach down into the storm drain. But her arm just wasn't long enough. Sarah looked around for anything that could help her but there wasn't anything. Finally giving up, she stood up, knowing her father was going to kill her. Not literally though.

When Dean had finally hung up, he and Sam looked behind them where Sarah was standing there, rubbing the back of her head. "What?" he asked of her.

Sarah hesitated, knowing he was going to be really upset with her. "I, uh…" She wrung her hands together, looking at the ground. "I lost my shoe."

Dean looked down at her feet to see one of her boots missing. "Seriously? Sarah, Ellen just bought you those shoes a few months ago. It hasn't even been six months yet."

Sarah stole a look up at her father, "I'm sorry, Dad," she told him, quietly.

He sighed, "I know. It's not your fault." Dean walked over to his daughter to place his hand on the side of her head to kiss the top of it to show he wasn't mad and led her over to the Impala.


	87. Chapter 86-Bad Day at Black Rock(part 3)

**Couple notes, I was dogsitting and away from internet, this weekend. I planned on having more than one chapter finished and ready to be uploaded for when I returned home but then I got too involved with my other story with Sam's kids and only finished a chapter and a half of this one. Also, I want to point out that I had no intention of Sarah taking Sam's storyline, he's still gonna be the one working with Ruby and drinking demon blood, that sort of thing. With how I have Sarah loyal to her father and how she would know what he would want or disproves of, I just don't see her doing any of those things. It was brought to my attention last week and I wanted to clear that up. **

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 86

Dean drove to a motel and rented a room. He decided if he was going to keep Sarah alive through this whole thing, she was going to have to stay back with Sam. Pulling a chair from the table and setting it in the middle of the motel room, Dean told Sarah to sit right there and not to move an itch.

"Don't do anything, Baby Girl," he told her and turned to his brother, "Sam, watch her. Make sure she doesn't do anything that could cause bad luck."

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"I'm going after the rabbit's foot," Dean replied and headed for the door. He looked back long enough to point back at his daughter, "Just sit there. Don't even scratch your nose." With that, Dean headed out the door, shutting it behind him.

Sarah glared after her father, folding her arms as she sat there. She looked around to see if the coast was clear and scratched her nose in defiance. After a few hours, Sarah was bored out of her mind, lying upside down, with her left leg over the back of the chair. "It's boring, just sitting here," she whined.

"I know, Peanut, but you have to sit there like your dad said," Sam said from one of the beds, leaning against the headboard, on his laptop.

"I don't want to sit here anymore, Uncle Sam, my butt's numb. Can't I just sit on the bed?"

Sam looked up at her, "You can't get up from that spot without risking it. It's only for a little bit longer, I promise. And sit in the chair right."

"No," she told her uncle, defiantly.

Sam blew out an annoyed breath of air, remembering back when Sarah said how she was a troublemaker when she was bored. "Sarah, sit in the chair right," he repeated, sterner.

"But I said my butt was numb and it was starting to hurt."

"And it's gonna hurt more if you don't sit flat like you're supposed to," Sam warned his niece.

Sarah crossed her arms, looking at her uncle upside down, knowing exactly what he meant. "Ha, how you are you gonna spank me if I can't get up from the chair?"

To prove a point, Sam stood up from the bed and went over to stand his niece on the chair and landed a firm swat to her backside before parking her back down on the chair, kneeling down to be eye level. "I'm not going to ask you again, Sarah Lynn. Sit in this chair, the right way or I will put you over my knee. Do you understand me?"

Sarah tightly folded her arms, across her chest as she glared at him. "You're not my dad."

"No, but once I tell him, your dad will agree with me that you need one," he told her.

When Sam stood up to head back over to the bed, Sarah slouched in her seat, staring at the floor. It wasn't long before she decided to return to her upside down position which Sam noticed out of the corner of his eye.

"Sarah Lynn Winchester," he scolded his niece. "What did I just get done telling you?"

"It's not like I'm getting up, off the chair. I'm still on it," she pointed out with a shrug.

"I don't care. I told you to sit right. I warned you before about holding your head upside down, and your dad had even backed me up, on it. Now, sit right or else."

Even though, Sarah was already pushing it, she decided to somersault off the chair and stood up, going over to the other bed to lie down.

Sam let out another annoyed breath of air and shook his head, downward. "Go sit on that chair like your dad told you too, Sarah Lynn."

Sarah ignored him, lying on her back.

"One…" he started to count. "…Two…"

"I'm not four, you know," she told her uncle, not looking at him.

"You're acting like you're four," Sam pointed out, trying to hold down his frustration. "Now get back over there and sit your butt in that chair."

Sarah refused to move.

"If I count to five and you're not sitting in that chair, you're gonna be over my knee now."

She got up, onto her legs, glaring over at him. "Then I'll tell Dad what you did," Sarah tried to threaten.

Sam shrugged, "Then you better tell him why I had to spank you."

Sarah turned around and folded her arms, tight again.

"I mean it, Sarah. Get your butt over there or you will be sitting there, uncomfortably."

But Sarah still didn't move.

"One…" Sam started counting again. "…Two…three…four…."

She moved, but in the opposite direction, towards the pillows and laid her head down on one of them, her back to her uncle.

"…Five." Sam set his laptop on the bed, beside him and stood up. He reached out for his niece who fought back against him. With Sam's size and him not giving in, he was winning.

"Let me go!" she screamed.

"No, Sarah. I gave you plenty of chances and you didn't take a single one," he told her as he held his niece, trying to wrestle her back to the bed he was sitting on. "You know your dad wouldn't have even given you that many chances either."

Sarah fought, trying to break free of her uncle's strong grip on her. "Okay, okay! I'll sit on the chair, I swear, Uncle Sam. Please don't! I promise I'll sit right!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. If there was anyone staying in the rooms next to theirs, they were probably awake now.

"No, Sarah," Sam continued to wrestle her back to the bed. He managed to sit down on the edge and tried to wrestle his niece over his lap. She had almost gotten away, from slipping out of her jacket, but Sam quickly tossed it away and snatched her up, again. It actually made it easier for him to hold onto her and held her on his lap. This was his first time having to spank his niece and was not looking forward to it. Dean had told him once, that Sam was the only one he trusted besides him to discipline his daughter. Sam was just hoping it would never have to come to it.

Sarah tried to use both hands to cover her bottom but Sam forced them away and wrapped his left arm around her waist so she couldn't do it again and brought his other hand down, firmly. Sarah then cried into her uncle's left leg as he landed each swat until he stopped after the tenth one and had her stand up.

Sam held his crying niece by the shoulders, "Look at me, Sarah," he told her, a little gentler now. "I warned you and you didn't listen. I didn't want to have to do that but you left me no choice. Your dad told you to just sit there and not do anything. You know better than that, Sarah."

She stood there, listening to her uncle lecture her as tears and snot was running down her face. Sarah nodded when he finished.

Sam reached over to the nightstand, between the beds and yanked a couple tissues from its box and used them to clean off Sarah's face, having her blow her nose into a fresh one, afterwards. Once she was cleaned up, Sam took his niece into his arms and comforted her. "It's okay, Peanut. It's all over now. I'm really sorry I had to spank you, but you have to listen, okay?" he assured her as he rubbed Sarah's back, up and down as she cried on his left shoulder.

"I want my dad," she cried, softly.

"He'll be back soon," he said. "I need you to go back and sit on the chair, though."

"It'll hurt more to sit now," she sniffed, not lifting her head from his shoulder.

"Should have thought of that before you decided to be defiant. Now, go sit down."

Sarah lifted her head, slowly and turned to walk back over to the chair, pitifully.

"You're okay, Peanut," Sam reminded her as she did.

She sat down, wincing from the minor pain in her bottom. It wasn't anywhere close as bad when her grandfather had spanked her, but it still hurt.

At that moment, two goons burst through the door with guns raised at both Sam and Sarah. The two of them immediately jumped to their feet, on guard. If things weren't bad enough, Sam never thought of grabbing a weapon of his own before Dean took off so both of him and his niece were unarmed.

Sam rushed over and pushed his niece behind him to shield her as he stared at the two goons. With Sarah's bad luck though, even putting up a fight, Sam still managed to get knocked out, along with her. They awoke some time later, each taped to a chair.

"What the hell?" Sarah blurted out when she looked down at the grey, duct tape. "Dude, you're messing with the wrong person here. My dad will be back any time now and when he sees what've done, he will kick…" One of them snapped his fingers at her while she was in mid-sentence. "Did you just snap…?"

"Shut up, Sarah," Sam told his niece and asked the goons, "Who are you?"

He smiled over at Sam, "I used to think your friend Gordon sent me."

Sarah and Sam both quickly exchanged looks between each other.

"Gordon?" Sarah questioned. "You mean, Gordon Walker? The guy, we had arrested?"

"Yeah," the guy continued like Sarah hadn't said anything, walking away. "Because he asked me to track you down and put a bullet in your brains."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Great," he said, "that sounds like him."

The guy turned around and walked back over to them, "But, as it turns out…I'm on a mission from God."

Sarah raised an eyebrow at him. "You're not one of those loony people, who think they received a vision from God to smite some sinner, are you? Because I really don't feel like doing a Bible study, right now on how that's so wrong, on so many levels."

He smirked at the little girl, "And what would a kid like you know about the Bible?"

She glared up at him. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table for me…"

The other goon tried stepping forward to shut her up, but the first one stopped him. "Let the girl finish."

Sarah finished, "You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm twenty-three."

"Impressive," the first goon smirked. "But I don't believe you. Satan knows every word of the Bible."

"Believe me for what?" she demanded.

"You were part of that demon plan to open that gate." He looked over at Sam. "Both of you."

Sarah couldn't argue with him there. She was still beating herself up, over opening the gate to hell though not as much as before. She looked away, at the floor.

"We did all we could to stop it. My niece was tricked into opening it," Sam tried to explain.

The goon pointed a finger at Sam, "Lie, lie, lie."

Sarah spoke up, "Yeah, I did it. I opened the gate and freed a bunch of demons." She shook her head, "But I'm not proud of it. I begged for God's forgiveness already. It's still eating up, inside me. If I could, I would take it all back."

He slapped her across the face. "Guess your daddy never taught you about telling the truth, now did he?"

A gun cocking behind the goons was heard, along with Dean's voice, "Step away from her, you arrogant dick."

The goon looked back, over his shoulder and smirked at Dean. "Put the gun down, son or you're gonna be scrapping brain off the wall."

"Oh, this thing?" Dean held his gun up to show him.

He nodded, "Yeah, that thing."

Dean shrugged, "Okay," confusing Sarah and set his gun down on the table. "But you see, there's something about me that you don't know."

The goon turned to fully face him. "Yeah, and what would that be?"

Dean had picked up a blue, ball-point pen and grinned at the goon, "It's my lucky day." He tossed it up and the pen landed right inside the barrel of the goon's gun which he laughed, "Oh my God. Did you see that shot?"

Both Sam and Sarah raised their eyebrows at that, impressed. "Go, Dad!" Sarah cheered, happily as the second goon tried to slug him but ended up, running into a wall when Dean dodged him.

"I'm amazing," said Dean and quickly picked up the TV remote and tossed it at the first goon's head, knocking him out. "I'm Batman," he smirked over at his brother and daughter.

Sam sat there in shock. "Yeah. You're Batman," he replied, sarcastically.

"No, you're better than Batman, Dad," Sarah told him, proudly which made Dean smile, proudly before he went over and cut Sarah loose first. Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him, quickly before Dean cut Sam loose.

On the way to a cemetery to burn the rabbit's foot, Sarah decided to rat on her uncle. She leaned over the back of the front seat and whispered in her father's right ear, "This may not be the best time but before those goons showed up, Uncle Sam spanked me." She was expecting him to turn on Sam at that point, but got a different reaction and Dean wasn't quiet about it either.

"What were you doing for Sam to have to spank you?" he asked of his daughter.

Sarah didn't know how to respond. She looked at her uncle, who was now looking over at her.

"Tell your dad the truth, Sarah," he reminded her.

She retreated to the backseat, not saying a word.

"You started this, Sarah, now finish it," Dean told her. "Were you expecting me to yell at Sam or something? Tell him he can't punish you? I told Sam if the situation ever arises and I'm not there, he has my say on, tanning your hide. So start talking."

"I…." Sarah stared down at the seat, curled up into a ball. "I was bored and the trouble in me comes out when I'm bored, unintentionally. So I started giving Uncle Sam a hard time when he told me to sit in the chair right."

Dean was glancing back at his daughter, in the rear-view mirror and the road ahead. "And did I not tell you to sit in that chair and do nothing?"

Sarah didn't respond.

"Sarah Lynn Winchester, you better look at me and answer before I pull this car over and give you another one," he warned her.

Sarah looked up at her father and said, "Yes, sir."

"Yes, what?"

"You said to sit there and do nothing."

"For the next week, you are grounded. No TV when we stay at a motel. Do you understand me?" Dean told her.

Sarah nodded at him, "Yes, sir."

"Did you apologize to Sam yet?" he asked, more lenient this time.

"No, sir," she shook her head.

"Then tell him and it better be sincere."

Sarah looked over at her uncle. "Uncle Sam," she said, softly but where he could still hear her.

Sam shifted his attention from the window, back over his shoulder at his niece, "Yes, Peanut?"

"I'm sorry about giving you a hard time earlier."

"It's okay now, Peanut. All is forgiven," he assured her.

When Dean pulled up to the cemetery and parked, the three of them stepped out. Sarah closed her car door and held her arms out to her uncle who picked her up.

"I am really sorry," she repeated. "I wasn't just saying that because of Dad."

"I know you are, Peanut. I remembered you had said that before, about trouble coming out when you're bored and having to sit in a chair all night, surely wasn't fun, huh?"

Sarah shook her head. "No it wasn't," she agreed.

"You know I still love you, right?" he asked.

She nodded at him which Sam kissed Sarah on the cheek before setting her down on her feet, "Now let's break this curse off of ya, what do you say?"

Sarah smiled and helped the brothers set up the ritual Bobby had found. Right as Dean was about to drop the rabbit's foot onto the fire, a gun cocking was heard. They turned to see the waitress who turned out to be Bela, standing there, pointing the gun at them.

"I think you'll find that belongs to me," she told them in a British accent. "Or, you know, whatever."

The Winchesters stared over at Bela, not saying a word.

"Put the foot down, honey."

Dean turned fully around to face her, "No. You're not gonna shoot anybody. See, I happen to be able to read people. Okay, you're a thief, fine, but you're not…"

Suddenly, Bela aimed her gun at Sarah and shot the little girl in the left shoulder which shoved Sarah back, onto the ground as she cried out in pain.

"You bitch!" Dean roared at her as he tried to move towards Bela.

"Back off, tiger," she told him, firmly.

Sam was helping his niece to her feet, making sure she was all right.

"Back off. You make one more move and I'll pull the trigger. You got the luck, Dean. You I can't hit." Bela pointed the gun back at Sarah, which Sam protectively wrapped his right arm around her, glaring over at Bela. "But your daughter? Her I can't miss."

Dean quickly stole a look back at his daughter, who was clutching her shoulder and looked back at Bela. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he demanded of her. "You don't just go around shooting people like that!"

"Relax," Bela told him. "It's a shoulder hit. I can aim. Besides, who here hasn't shot a few people?"

Dean let out a breath of air, glaring at her.

"Put the rabbit's foot on the ground now," she ordered him.

"All right! All right. Take it easy." Dean slowly lowered himself to place the rabbit's foot on the ground but at the last second, tossed it over to Bela. "Think fast."

Out of reflex, Bela caught it in her hand as Dean stood up, smirking at her. "Damn," she muttered to herself and looked over at him.

"Now, what do you say we destroy that ugly-ass piece of dead thing?"

Bela huffed, annoyed and walked over to drop the rabbit's foot onto the fire. "Thanks very much," she told them as they watched it burn up. "I'm out one and a half million and on the bad side of a powerful, psychotic buyer."

Dean was holding his daughter now, staring stiffly at Bela. "Wow, I really don't feel bad about that," he told her. "Sam?"

Sam shook his head, looking at Bela too, "Nope. Not even a little."

"Sarah?"

"Normally I do but this time, I feel no remorse for her," said Sarah who was still clutching her shoulder.

Bela walked away and leaned on the headstone Dean had left his jacket. "Maybe next time, I'll hang you out to dry."

Sarah eyed her, suspiciously as her father told Bela, "Oh, don't go away angry. Just go away."

When Bela turned to walk away, Sarah motioned to be let down and hurried after her. "Hey, uh, Bela, right? I guess there's no hard feelings then?" And she gave the woman a friendly hug.

Bela removed the little girl from around her waist and walked away, not noticing Sarah grinning after her.

After putting the fire out and making sure they had everything, the Winchesters headed back over to where the Impala was parked.

"How are you holding up, Baby Girl?" Dean asked his daughter.

"It really hurts," she told him.

"We'll find a motel and I'll fix that for you, okay?" he assured her.

"Wouldn't a hospital be more proficient for this?" Sarah asked.

"Trust me, Baby Girl, I've removed more bullets in my time than any doctor has. With me, you'll be good as new and we won't have to deal with any doctors sticking their noses in where they don't belong."

Sarah nodded.

Dean looked forward as they continued to walk, "I guess we're back to normal now, huh?" he complained. "No good luck, no bad luck. Oh." He remembered the scratchers from the day before. "Forgot, we still have fifteen grand from your scratch tickets…" Dean checked both his jacket pockets and realized they weren't there.

Bela's car drove by, in the distance and Dean realized he had been conned by a thief as he stared over at his brother, who stared back at him. "Son of a bitch!" Dean exclaimed, angrily.

Sarah smiled up at her father, pulling something from her own jacket pocket. "Is this what you're looking for, Dad?" she asked, holding the scratchers up.

Sam and Dean stared down at the little girl, amazed how she could pull that one off.

"How…?" Sam tried to ask.

"What?" she asked, "you thought I was hugging her out of the kindness of my heart? Yeah, right."

Dean grinned at his little girl and held her head in his hands, giving her a huge kiss on the head. "I love you so much, Baby Girl," he told her, proudly.

Sarah smiled back him, accepting the embarrassing kiss, this time. "It was no problem, Dad. You deserve it."

"What do ya say, after we fix ya up, we buy you some new shoes?" Dean suggested.

"And probably new socks," Sam nodded down at his niece's socked feet.

Sarah looked down and smiled up at her uncle.


	88. Chapter 87-Sin City

**Family is Where the Heart is **

Chapter 87

"Owww!" Sarah cried as her father used metal tweezers to dig the bullet out. The two of them sat on their bed with a first aid kit that looked like it had exploded. Sarah was sitting in front of her father, facing him, no shirt, just her pajama pants and tears drenching her face.

"I can't get it out if you don't hold still," Dean told his daughter. He held a large, square piece of gauze over part of the wound while he stuck the tweezers into the wound to fish out the bullet, pushing on the wound to help release it.

"Oh, so you're normally calm when someone's doing this to you?" she snapped at him.

"I'm not asking you to calm down. I know it hurts like hell, but you're squirming around where I can't do anything."

Sarah sat there, trying hard not to move. As she felt the cold metal points go in her shoulder and pull on the bullet, more hot tears filled her eyes, making Sarah shut them tight.

Dean noticed. "Sam, come over here and let Sarah squeeze your hand," he looked over at his brother who was coming out of the bathroom, ready for a few hours rest before they had to hit the road again.

"No, it's okay," Sarah breathed heavily as he walked over to the bed. "Just hand me Chimchar over there."

"Are you sure, Peanut?" Sam asked of his niece, stopping beside her.

Sarah nodded and Sam passed her monkey over to her, and held it close to her, squeezing it.

"It'll be all right, Baby Girl," Dean assured his daughter and continued. "I'm trying to make this quick as I can."

Sarah nodded, squeezing her eyes shut again as she felt the intense pain once more. Blood kept leaking out which Dean caught with the gauze before continuing. Sarah couldn't help yelp a few times as he tried to dig the bullet out.

"Shh, shh," Dean coaxed his daughter, gently. He hated having Sarah go through this pain but was impressed by how much she was dealing with it. "I think I almost got it." Dean slowly pushed the gauze down and could see a glimmer of gold metal and tried to reach in with the tweezers to fish it out.

Sarah cried out when her father pushed on the wound, clutching her monkey even tighter to her.

"It's okay, Baby Girl," he assured her, softly and quickly mopped up more blood when it spilled. Dean pushed on the wound some more and was able to grasp the bullet better and tried to pull it out, quickly but still kept it slow so he wouldn't pull a vein or anything. The tug made Sarah cry out, louder than she had before and before she knew it, Dean had pulled out the bullet, catching it, quickly with the blood-soaked gauze. "I got it out, Baby Girl."

Sarah opened her eyes and looked over at the small bullet her father was holding in the gauze and tried to control her breathing. Dean wrapped it in the blood-covered gauze and opened up another fresh gauze packet, placing it over the wound and held it with his left hand while he grabbed a roll of medical tape and taped the gauze down to hold it in place.

He then started rubbing her back to help calm her breathing, "See, that wasn't so bad, right? I told ya I could patch you up, but I ain't kissing it though."

That made Sarah smile and laugh. "The last time I had an injury kissed, I was five and Gram was patching me up from falling off my bike. After that, I felt I was old enough to know that kissing it wouldn't medically work." She wiped her eyes dry and Dean reached over to yank out a tissue to wipe her face.

"You crack me up, Baby Girl," he told her, smiling and handed her the tissue.

Sarah used it to wipe off her face, with one hand.

Sam came back over with pain medication and a cup of water, passing each one to his niece. "This will help with the pain, Peanut," he explained.

"Thanks, Uncle Sam." She took the small pill and swallowed it, washing it down with the water before turning back to her father, "And thanks for patching me up, Dad."

"Don't mention it," he told her, hugging her head to him and kissed the top of it. Dean cleaned up the mess he had made and the small family went to bed and was back on the road around sunrise.

Until they could replace Sarah's shoes, she had to wear a pair of flip flops she kept stashed at the bottom of her duffel bag for when she took showers in the motel rooms the three of them stayed in.

Once Dean entered into the next state over, in a small city, he stopped at a shoe store that carried kids' sized shoes. It took some time since they were trying to find the same pair. It came close and Sarah really seemed to like them. As long as they were boots like her father's, she was content.

After the shoe shopping trip, Dean headed straight for Sioux Falls, pulling up to the savage yard late into the night. Instead of waking her up, he carried his daughter inside and up the stairs to one of the spare bedrooms to lay her down and removed her new shoes and her jacket before covering Sarah up with the covers and kissed her forehead. Dean headed downstairs to join Sam and Bobby.

The next day, Sam headed off somewhere while the rest of them stayed back. Bobby and Dean was taking the Colt apart, trying to figure out how the weapon worked, with Sarah watching her father. Everything was quiet as the men busied themselves in their work.

"Isn't there something you want to do?" Dean asked his daughter after a while. "Have some fun?"

"No, not really. Why?" she replied, looking up at him, innocently.

Dean sighed. "Okay, fine," he told her, "if that's how it's gonna be than, I order you to go have fun. Go find an adventure outside, in the yard."

"But this is fun, too."

"No, it's not," Dean shook his head. "Trust me, we're doing all the work and it ain't fun. How can watching it, be any? Now get your ass outside and be a kid, or I will..." He had to think up a good enough threat to make his daughter leave. "Or I will tie you to a chair and make you watch that purple, singing dinosaur over and over again."

Sarah crossed her arms across her chest. "And where are you gonna get that?" she questioned him.

"I know where the nearest video rental place is," Bobby spoke up from his magnifying glass.

She had looked over at Bobby then back at her father who gave her a devious grin. Suddenly, she bolted from her seat and hurried outside. Sarah wandered around the salvage yard, trying to think of something to do, with her hands shoved into her jacket pockets.

When she came to the back of a rundown, rusted old car, Sarah quickly climbed up the bumper and up, onto the roof to look around the yard. Not long after, she slid down the windshield and jumped off the car, landing couched down, and decided to explore, eventually finding a long stick and started pretending she was Link for the _Legend of Zelda _games and had to go on a quest to rescue Zelda from the evil Ganondorf. It had been a long time since she played like that and had so much fun, that she had lost track of time. Before she knew it, Sarah heard Bobby calling her and ran back to the house where the old hunter was standing on the porch.

"I got dinner ready if you're hungry," he told her when Sarah was in earshot.

Sarah tossed the stick over on the ground and hurried up the steps, following him inside.

"Why don't you go get washed up first," he suggested.

"Okay." The house seemed quiet to the little girl. She poked her head into Bobby's study and saw her father was gone. Moving more into his study, Sarah checked the kitchen and saw Dean wasn't in there either and neither was Sam. _Maybe they were upstairs getting washed up for dinner too_, she thought to herself and ran up the stairs and into the bathroom.

The bathroom light was off which Sarah switched on and quickly washed her hands, drying them on her jeans. Sarah dashed back downstairs and into the kitchen where Bobby was waiting for her.

"Where's Dad and Uncle Sam?"

"They took a job in Ohio," he replied as Bobby poured some stew into a bowl and held it out to Sarah to set on the table.

Sarah stared over at the old hunter, stunned. They left without her? Her father left without her? "What do you mean they took a job in Ohio?" she demanded, a little hurt and angry at the same time.

"Sam had returned with word of a possible demon possession, said they would be back in a couple of days. Now hurry up and take this, would ya?"

"Oh, right. Sorry about that, Uncle Bobby." Sarah realized he was holding the bowl of stew and took it from him, placing it on the table while he poured more stew into another bowl and passed it to her to set on the table as well.

After dinner, Bobby started working with the Colt again while Sarah borrowed his cellphone, calling her father.

Dean picked up on the third ring. _"Hello?"_

"Your grave is so deep right now, you're burning up from the molten core," she told him, heatedly. "Uncle Sam's too."

"_Oh crap," _she heard her father mutter. _"Look, Baby Girl, I can explain."_

"I'm listening," she told him.

"_Sam and I came out to let you know we were leaving but then we saw you were in the middle of some kind of game and it looked like you were having fun. We didn't want to disturb you so we just left. I didn't want to with how little time we have left together but we figured this wouldn't take long. I'm sorry, Baby Girl, I really am. We'll be back in a couple days, though. I'm gonna try and promise that. Okay?"_

Sarah let out a huff, glaring at the floor, "I hate being left out of a hunt."

"_I know you do, Baby Girl. I promise you can be a part of the next one. Just be a kid for a couple days, have fun. Just like your grandfather told you, remember?"_

"But…." She tried to protest.

"_Think of it as my next dying wish, how's that?"_

A tear appeared in the corner of her eye. "Okay, Dad," she finally gave in even though she didn't want to.

"_I promise I'll make it up to you somehow, me and Sam. I love you."_

"I love you too, Dad."

"_Be good for Bobby and I'll bring you back a surprise."_

"What?" she asked, curiously. Sarah couldn't help be intrigued at the word, surprise.

_"If I tell ya, it wouldn't be a surprise, right?" _he laughed.

"Yeah, I guess," she sighed.

_"I'll see you soon, Baby Girl," _he told her, softly.

"Okay. Bye, Dad," she replied before they both hung up. Sarah closed the phone and stood up from the couch to place it on the desk, beside where Bobby was busy working. "How's the Colt coming along, Uncle Bobby?"

"Well, still got nothing but I'll get there," he said, not looking up from his work.

"Dad told me to have fun so I'm gonna go upstairs and play my Nintendo in my room, okay?"

Bobby smiled at the little girl. "Okay, little one," he said and waited for the annoyed response he usually got when he called her, little one.

Sure enough, it came. "I'm not that little anymore, Uncle Bobby."

He just snickered. "Sam used to tell me the same thing when I called him that as a kid."

Sarah's eyes widened. "No way, Uncle Sam was small when he was a kid, too?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," Bobby said. "I remember when he pushed a chair next to your dad to stand on just so he could be taller for a moment."

"My mom was short like Dad so I'm probably going to be small my whole life."

"Maybe," he shrugged.

"I'm gonna go play now." Sarah said after a few seconds and ran upstairs to the bedroom she was staying in. For the rest of the evening, Sarah lied on the bed, playing video games that used to belong to Mark before he went off to war, mostly _Super Mario 64 _and _Legend of Zelda_. Her eyes stayed glued to the screen until they grew heavy and fell asleep.

Bobby checked on her around ten o'clock that night when he was going to bed. It was hilarious to find a little girl and a short, Italian man both snoozing away. He had thought the snoring was coming from Sarah until he looked at the TV screen and saw it was Mario who was snoring.

Not sure how to shut off the game, Bobby just turned off the TV and placed a blanket over Sarah, moving the controller away from her and placed it on top of the game system. On the way out, he shut out the light and went to his own room.

The next morning, Bobby made pancakes with Sarah's help, both getting covered in flour when they had tossed it at each other. They cleaned up the kitchen and sat down to eat. After breakfast, Sarah headed outside again, finding where she had dropped her stick from the day before and ran around the salvage yard while Bobby finished the Colt.

While she pretended to fight Ganondorf, a voice startled her from behind. "Wild imagination you have there, kid."

Sarah turned on the spot to find Ruby standing there with her arms folded, loosely. "It's you," she said, lowering her stick to her side and watched her, closely. "I called my cousin. Did my mom know who I really was?"

"Yellow Eyes had told her you were special, someone he needed," Ruby told her with a shrug.

"Okay, who are you really?" Sarah asked. "You seem to know more about me than I do."

Ruby shook her head, "You don't want to know, kid, trust me."

"Yeah, well I'm starting to think you're more than just a hunter. What with you popping up places where you possibly couldn't. So tell me who you are, or…" Sarah raised her stick again, in attack position, gripping her hands around it. "Or I will beat you over the head with this."

"Fine, you want to know." Ruby's eyes flashed black for a brief moment before returning to normal.

Sarah immediately stepped back, now glaring at her. "Get out of here," she ordered, "before I send your ass back to hell."

"I can help you, Sarah," she reminded her.

"Yeah, right," Sarah scoffed. "I made the mistake of trusting a demon once. I won't do it again." Her left hand was reaching into the inside pocket of her leather jacket.

"You don't need holy water, Sarah. I can really help you."

"I'm not falling for that twice, you pathetic demon." Sarah pulled out a bottle of holy water and quickly tore off the lid.

"I thought you wanted to save your dad?" Ruby asked of her, unmoved.

"I do, but I'm not taking help from a demon. Not again." With that, Sarah splashed the holy water. However, Ruby disappeared. Sarah looked around, quickly but the demon was nowhere to be found.

"What is it with you hunters?" Ruby was standing behind Sarah now, standing the same way. Sarah quickly turned on her heels. "You strike first and don't even bother asking questions later."

"That's 'cause demons only lie. I want to save my dad but there's no way I'm letting a demon help. That'll only lead to trouble."

Ruby uncrossed her arms, dropping them at her side and stepped towards Sarah. "Should have known you'd be just like your dad."

"My dad taught me everything I know on defending myself," Sarah glared at her some more.

"If I wanted to kill you, Sarah, I would have done it already. Just remember, I saved your little ass once already. Without me, you'd be dead," she told her.

Sarah was gripping the stick and the bottle of holy water, defensively. "And I appreciate it but we all know you did that to get something out of it. All demons are alike, you know."

"Don't be raciest, Sarah. Not all demons are the same. I really do want to help you."

"And I told you, I'm not buying it." Sarah splashed more of the holy water. After that, Ruby was gone. Sarah didn't lower her guard yet. Ruby never reappeared. She had wanted to talk to Sam first before Ruby came back but they had never gotten around to talking. So Sarah just took in her instincts of what her father had taught her and what she had learned from a couple months ago. No way was she letting a demon, use her again, not even to save her father. Sarah was going to be smart about everything, this time.


	89. Chapter 88-Sin City (part 2)

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 88

That afternoon, Sarah trailed after Bobby when he was taking the Colt out to test it out on a sack of sand hanging from a tree. Bobby took a couple shots and let Sarah have one since she asked so nicely.

"Lucky shot," the old hunter muttered where Sarah could hear him when he took the Colt back. He scrapped at the back of the gun with a metal pick before aiming it at the sack again and fired. Repeating the progress, Bobby aimed once more until Ruby appeared yet again.

"Cute piece," she grinned, her arms folded like before.

Bobby slowly lowered the Colt, "Who are you?"

Sarah jumped in at that moment. "Careful, Uncle Bobby, she's a demon," she warned him and went into her jacket pocket to retrieve what she had left of the holy water from earlier.

"Shut it, kid, the grown-ups are talking now," Ruby told her, coldly.

Bobby moved, protectively in front of Sarah. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, not happy with the way she was talking to Sarah.

"For starters, I can help you out with that gun."

Sarah tried looking around Bobby, "I told you, we don't need your help."

"I'm trying to prove to you I'm on your side. Just give me the benefit of the doubt here."

She glared at the demon, "I wouldn't even give you the time of day, you demonic, son of a…."

"Sarah!" Bobby interrupted her before she could finish her father's favorite phase. "What is it you want, exactly?" he asked Ruby.

Ruby walked towards them which Bobby started nudging Sarah backwards with his arm, protectively pushing her, "Peace on earth. Now, do you want me to help you out with that gun or not?"

"Or not," Sarah exclaimed, angrily.

"Will you excuse us a moment," Bobby nodded at the demon and dragged Sarah out of earshot. Keeping their voices down, he told her, "Maybe we can use her, Sarah."

"Are you insane?" she asked in a whisper. "She's a demon. Dad wouldn't give her the time of day, why should we?"

"Look, Sarah, we don't really have a choice here. We need a weapon that can kill demons easily and she may be our only chance," he told her.

"Come on, Uncle Bobby," Sarah urged him. "Are you listening to yourself? Working with or helping demons never leads to good things so why would you want to let her help us?"

Bobby kneeled down to her level, in the dirt. "I'm not saying to give into her demands and work for her, all I'm saying is that we can use her to fix the Colt then after that if she tries anything, we'll just exorcise her back to hell. Okay?"

Sarah glared over at Ruby out of the corner of her eye, and then looked back at Bobby. She didn't like this plan at all, not one bit. "Fine. But as soon as we have the Colt fixed, it's adios Ruby," she gave in. "And if Dad asks, it was your idea."

"Fine." Bobby stood up and turned to face Ruby. "So what do we need to fix the Colt with?"

Ruby smirked when she heard that.

The whole time, Ruby was fixing up the Colt, Sarah stood back, against a wall with her arms folded. Sarah didn't trust the demon one bit and knew her father would be pissed if he knew a demon was helping them. Hell, she was pissed, herself.

When the Colt was finished, Bobby drove up to Elizabethville, Ohio where the boys were. Bobby parked on the side of the house, and the three of them jumped out. Sarah followed after Bobby who suddenly stopped and aimed the Colt at a middle-aged man who was dressed as a priest. Bobby missed, hitting a statue instead and was thrown to the side. Sam was then thrown onto the hood of a car that was sitting there. The man threw Sarah back as well when she tried to make a run towards him.

Sarah quickly got to her feet, painfully and met her uncle over where Bobby was lying on the ground.

"How did you two know where we were?" Sam asked of them.

Bobby handed Sam the Colt and told him to go after the demon. Sam stood up and turned around.

"You heard the man," Ruby told him. "Go."

Sam was confused who she was but felt small hands pushing on the back of his legs.

"Come on, Uncle Sam, we have to save my dad!" she exclaimed as she tried to move him along. "I will explain about her later."

Sam agreed and ran after the demon. Sarah followed after him. They hurried down, into the basement of the house just as the demon inside the priest was holding Dean up by his throat. Sam fired, making the demon drop him and it dropped dead.

Sarah hurried around her uncle and dropped beside her father, helping him to sit up. "Dad, you okay?" she asked, worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Baby Girl." Suddenly, Dean noticed Sam had the Colt pointing at the girl and tried to stop him but it was too late. Sam shot her too. Both of the demons lied dead, beside each other. The look in Sam's eye seemed different to Dean. It seemed more determined and colder. Dean watched his brother as Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck.

The next day, Dean, Sarah, and Bobby walked out of a bar. "Well, what do you think, Bobby?" Dean was asking. "About what we did here. Do you think it made a difference?"

"Why wouldn't it?" Sarah asked her father, walking between the men.

Bobby stopped walking and shrugged, "Two less demons to worry about. That's not nothing."

"Yeah, but Trotter's still alive," said Dean.

"Humans ain't our job."

Dean started walking across the street, "Yeah, but do you think anything's really gonna change? I mean, maybe these people do wanna destroy themselves. Maybe it is a losing battle."

"That you or the demon girl talking?" Bobby asked.

"Oh, it's me." Dean stared at the ground as he walked. "Demon is dead. So is that hot girl it was possessing."

"Too bad, I would have liked if those people could live," Sarah added into the men's conversation.

"Well, had to be done," Bobby told them. "Sam was saving your daddy's life."

"Yeah, but you didn't see it, Bobby," said Dean. "It was cold."

Sarah looked up at her father, "What do you mean?"

Dean didn't answer his daughter, he was thinking about the night before. "Bobby," he stopped the old hunter.

Bobby turned to look back at him when they were across the street.

"You ever get the feeling like…like maybe when I brought Sam back, he was different?"

Bobby asked, "Different how?"

"I don't know. Just something in his eyes….you think something's wrong with my brother?"

He shrugged, "No, I'm sure Sam's okay."

"Yeah," Dean looked away. "Yeah, me too." After a moment, he asked, "You mind taking Sam and Sarah back to your place? I have an errand I have to run by myself. I will meet you up there."

"Sure," Bobby replied.

Sarah didn't feel excited to hear her father had to go somewhere else. "You're leaving again?" she asked, sadly.

Dean kneeled to her level, resting his left arm on his knee. "It's just for a little while longer, okay? I promise. I just need to take care of something."

Sarah nodded, "Okay, Dad."

"That's my girl," he smirked at her. "How's your shoulder, by the way?"

"It still hurts a little but not like it did before."

Dean continued to smile, "That's good. I'll tell ya, if I ever see that bitch, Bela again, I'd kill her. Looking back, I shouldn't have let her get away without justice being served."

"But she was armed and you weren't. I'm glad you didn't do anything, otherwise I would have lost you sooner than a year." With that, Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck once more. "You were the bigger person by not doing anything to her."

"I know but it would have been better if I could have punched her in the face for shooting you," he replied, holding her in his arms.

Sarah moved her head to face him and gave her father a kiss on the cheek. Dean smiled at that and gave her one, right back before they squeezed each other, tight and stood up. As they waved, good-bye for a moment longer, they went their separate ways.

Meanwhile, Sam was packing up his backpack when Ruby walked in. "Hello, Sam," she told him.

Sam jumped and turned his head to look at her. "Who are you?" he asked.

"The name's Ruby," she told him. "I'm a hunter just like you."

"What do you want?"

"I want to help you, Sam."

"Help with what?"

"I know how to save your brother, for one."

"How?"

Ruby was leaning in the doorway. She stood up and walked closer to him. "I'll tell you what, you help me and I will help you," she smiled at him.

"Why do you want to help me? What's in it for you?" Sam demanded of her.

"I swear, you and your niece are so much alike. I mean, everyone says Sarah and her father are alike but I have to say, I think you have your brother beat in that department. Like I told Sarah, you're special, Sam, and I could use someone like you," she explained.

"Wait, you talked to my niece? When?" Then it dawned on Sam. He remembered that Sarah had wanted to talk to him about something. "You're the reason Sarah wanted to talk to me, aren't you?"

Ruby smirked again. "Nothing gets passed you, does it? Yeah but now Sarah refuses to give me a chance even if it's to save her dear ol'daddy. So how about it, Sam?"

Sam watched her carefully. If his niece wasn't giving this woman a chance to help, there must have been a reason. Although, Sarah was a kid and came from a history of trust issues. Maybe this could work, and Sam still hasn't found a way to save his brother anyway. "Give me a reason that I can trust you," he finally told her.

Ruby shrugged, "Well, I told Sarah to start gathering information on her mother. Maybe you should look into your own mother's past, considering what happened to all her friends."

Sam stared at her, confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Just look into it and give me a call." Ruby gave him her phone number and was gone.

He stared at the number. His niece, calling her cousin made so much sense now. Sarah wasn't doing it just to say hello, she was finding answers and now it was Sam's turn. What did Ruby mean by what had happened to his mother's friends?

Dean waited for nightfall and drove for a few hours before he came to a crossroads. After spending a few hours, trapped in a basement with a demon, he learned a few things. For starters, Sarah was never supposed to be born in the first place. In fact, Sarah being born had thrown off everything. It was Sam that was supposed to be in her place and lead Yellow Eyes' army of demons. He was supposed to be the most special one of all, not Sarah. But of course, Dean had to meet Emily Holden that night and decided to get some action. When her abilities awakened early and gained more than any of his special children has ever had, Yellow Eyes grew intrigued and kept an eye on Sarah from then on.

Dean had also learned that Yellow Eyes had been popping in when Sarah was alone and speaking to her, not just in her dreams but in reality too. After the flu episode and the whole thing with the rabbit's foot, and feeling there was something wrong with his brother, Dean realized, he had to set things right. He needed to be there for Sarah in case she got weak. He knew she could make wise decisions, but also knew Sarah was easily manipulated. He couldn't leave her behind to let anything like that happen, even if he was beating himself over deserving hell for what he had done.

Dean parked on the side of a dirt road and went back to the trunk to remake another box, and took it over to the center of the crossroads to bury it. Standing up, he looked around at the quiet, deserted roads.

"Well, well, well," a familiar voice startled him from behind. "Look who's come crawling back." The same crossroads demon from before was standing there as she grinned at him.

He turned fully around and stared at her. "I want to call off the deal. Sam drops dead and I stay," he told her. "Those were your words, right?"

She shrugged, "They were."

"So let's do. Come on, we don't have all night, you know."

"Hold on, sugar," the crossroads demon said. "Those were the terms before my boss got word that Dean Winchester had booked a seat downstairs. She was elated and can't wait until your time is up."

"What do you mean? That was the deal and I want it off. My daughter is alive, which a certain someone could have told me, by the way. She needs me. As much as I want my brother alive and care about the kid, Sarah is more important to me."

She shrugged, "Should have thought of that before, now it's up to my boss and she badly wants you so much."

Dean cocked a grin, "As flattering as that is, I have to say I'll pass. Please, just tear up the contract."

"No can do, sugar," the crossroads demon shook her head.

"You said if I tried to weasel my way out of this deal, the deal was off and Sam dropped dead. Well, I'm weaseling my way out of this deal," he told her, angrily.

"That was before, this is now. You will have to take it up with my boss."

"Okay, where's your boss? Connect me to her," Dean said as if he was calling customer service or something.

"Sorry, she doesn't make house calls," she shook her head.

Dean stepped towards the crossroads demon, his fists clenching at his side. "Look, you bitch. Either you cut off the deal or I will send you straight back to hell." Suddenly, Dean pulled the Colt out from behind and pointed it at her. He used his thumb to cock it. "What's it gonna be?"

The crossroads demon was unmoved. "Shooting me won't end the deal," she assured him.

"No, but it'll help take out my frustrations," Dean pointed out with a smirk.

"Fine, go ahead but your contract will remain in tack and you will still have your one-way ticket to hell. Face it, Dean. You already dug your grave, now all you can do is lay back and accept the choices you made. Besides, I've seen kids grow up parentless and there's a chance Sarah will turn out fine." The crossroads demon grinned. "Of course there's also a chance she'll grow up, hating the world, bury herself into hunting, and be the lonely, incomplete person you were before the two of you met. Am I…." She never was able to finish her sentence. Dean had pulled the trigger and shot her in the chest.

He watched as the crossroads demon fell back, into the dirt. So much for that plan, Dean figured. He blew it. Dean absolutely blew it. What the hell was he supposed to do now? There was no chance of calling the deal off or saving himself from going to hell and Sarah was going to grow up without him, for sure. Dean couldn't help let a tear fall. Is there anything else he could possibly screw up as a father now?

When the three of them had gotten back to Bobby's place, Sam locked himself in one of the upstairs rooms and started trying to find information on his mother's friends. After calling the last person he could find, he learned that all of her friends, including Mary's doctor were dead.

Sam called Ruby back. "All of them are dead," he told her. "All of them. Her friends, her doctor, her uncle. Anyone who knew her systematically wiped off the map one at a time." He scoffed. "Someone went through a hell of trouble trying to cover their tracks."

"Yup, Yellow-eyed Demon," she replied, staring at him from the bed.

"But what about Sarah's other family? None of them were killed."

Ruby shrugged, "Sarah's mother wasn't as close to hers as yours was. Besides Sarah's cousin, her family didn't know about the demon. Being the "Christianly" type of people, they believed they couldn't be touched by demons and that there was something wrong with Sarah and her mother."

"So what's your deal?" Sam asked of her. "You show up wherever we are, you know a lot about Sarah and me, you know all about our moms."

She laughed, a little, "I already told you. I'm just a…"

"Oh, right. Right. Yeah. Just a hunter. Just some hunter who happens to know more about our own families than Sarah and I do." Sam forced a smile as he shook his head, "Just tell me who you are."

Ruby scoffed at the floor, "I told Sarah who I was and that's when she decided she didn't want my help."

Sam was growing frustrated and tried desperately to keep his voice down so they wouldn't attract Sarah or Bobby but he couldn't help it. "Just…" he paused for a moment than moved closer to her. "Just tell me who you are."

"Fine." And like she had done with Sarah, Ruby's eyes shown black for a split second then returned to normal.

Sam stepped backwards in shock. Now he knew why Sarah had turned Ruby's offer down. Like his niece had done, Sam went straight to his backpack and started searching for the holy water.

"Like I told Sarah, Sam, you don't need holy water," Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well, give me one good reason I can trust you," he told her, angrily.

"This stubbornness must run in the family, doesn't it?" she said. "Like I said before, I am here to help you, Sam. God's honest truth or whatever."

"You're a demon," Sam told her as he quickly rummaged through his backpack.

Ruby stood up and slowly walked over to him. "Don't be a racist either, Sam. I am really here to help you. And I can if you trust me."

"Trust you?" Sam flicked off the cap and held the flask of holy water out towards her. "Why should I trust you? Sarah couldn't."

"Sam, calm down," she told him.

He stared at her, his heart beating fast as he exhaled, rapidly. "Start talking. All those murders. What was the demon trying to cover up?"

"I don't know," Ruby said.

"What happened to my mother? What happened to Sarah's mother?"

"I honestly don't know. That's what I'm trying to find out. All I know is that it's about you."

Sam stared at her. "What?"

She scoffed, "Don't you get it, Sam? It's all about you. You originally, actually. What happened to your mom, what happened to her friends. They're trying to cover up what he did to you." Ruby shrugged, "And I wanna help you figure it out."

"Why would you want to help me?" he asked still not lowering the flask.

"I have my reasons. Sarah wouldn't buy it but not all demons are the same, Sam. Not all of us want the same thing. Me?" She shrugged again, "I want to help you from time to time. That's all." Ruby stepped closer to him when he had lowered the flask. "And if you let me," she gave a small laugh, "there's something in it for you." Ruby smiled at him.

"What could you possibly…"

"Like I said a million times before, I can help you save your brother."


	90. Chapter 89- Bedtime Stories (part 1)

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 89

"Are you out of your mind?!" Sarah spat at her uncle when she found out Ruby had given up on her and went to Sam instead. She was leaning over the back of the front seat again.

When Dean met them at Bobby's place, he had brought Sarah the surprise he had promised. Not really sure what he should do, Dean just picked up stuff to make ice cream sundaes, leaving out the nuts since he remembered Sarah was allergic. Much to Sam's objection, that was their breakfast.

After breakfast, Dean decided to toss a football back and forth with Sarah too before they hit the road again. Sam joined in, halfway through. He didn't say anything about Ruby until much later when they were driving and everything was quiet.

"Do you want to help your dad out of his deal or not, Sarah?" he asked of her, almost yelling.

"Yes, but I'm not gonna team up with a demon to do it. Do I need to remind you what happened the first time?"

"I'm not talking about trusting her, Sarah. I'm talking about using her," Sam argued with her.

Sarah just laughed, thinking about what Bobby had said before, too. "Man, I should have just sent her back to hell when I first found out she was a demon."

"Yes, you should have," Dean butted into the conversation as he drove. "You go for the holy water. You don't chat."

Sam rolled his eyes, "No one was chatting, Dean."

"Then why didn't you send her ass back to hell?" he demanded.

"I wasted half a bottle of holy water, trying to fend her off," Sarah told her father.

"At least someone did," said Dean which got an eye roll from his brother.

"Yeah? Well, it looks like I wasn't the only one chatting with a demon," Sam pointed out.

"I didn't go for it like you did, you bonehead," Sarah snapped at him again.

"I didn't mean you, Sarah. I was talking about your dad."

Sarah stopped and stared at her uncle before she looked over at her father. "What is he talking about, Dad?" she asked of him.

Dean shrugged, "I have no idea, Baby Girl."

"I think you do, Dean. There's a bullet missing from the Colt and I only used two on those demons. What did you do?" Sam demanded.

"Nothing," Dean told him, defensively.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now we all gonna drop this subject and leave it alone. That includes this Ruby girl, too. Do you understand me?" Dean was looking between Sam and Sarah.

Sarah nodded first, "Yes, sir."

Dean looked over at his brother, "Sam?"

Sam slumped in his seat, not saying a word.

"Dude," he warned.

"Yes," Sam finally replied, annoyed.

The car ride was silent for a long time before Dean finally broke it. "Tell me about the psychotic killer," he said as he watched the road and added, "Come on, Sam. Tell me about the psychotic killer," when Sam didn't say anything.

Sam forcefully grabbed a newspaper off the dash and read it out loud, "Psychotic killer: Rips victims apart with brute-like ferocity."

"Okay," said Dean, "Any mention of its razor-sharp teeth or his four-inch claws, animal eyes?"

Sam quietly stared down at the paper, "No." He flipped it closed. "The lunar cycle's right. Look, if it is a werewolf, we don't have long. Moon's full this Friday. That's the last time he changes for a month."

Dean nodded at the road, "Two days, no sweat.

The Winchesters spoke with the only survivor of the animal attack, asking the guy questions to decide if it was indeed a werewolf they were dealing with, while Sam tried to draw what the guy described. The guy thought they were nuts, stating the attacker was just a normal, human guy. Dean talked to the guy's doctor as well, about the other two victims, if they were missing their hearts, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary which didn't help the Winchesters any.

It wasn't long before another attack happened. Speaking with another victim, a young woman this time, she explained how an elderly woman invited her and her husband inside her house and fed them a drugged pie. The young woman managed to escape by pushing the elderly woman into the stove, causing her to hit her head on the stove. The young woman also told them about a little girl with dark hair and pale skin, around eight years old, a little taller than Sarah.

So the Winchesters decided to check out the crime scene, wandering around the elderly woman's house.

"Well, there's no sulfur anywhere," Dean announced. "What about the EMF?"

Sam was over by a window, scanning the EMF reader along it. "Yeah, it's going nuts," he replied. "But only over here by the window. There was definitely a spirit here."

"Who stood outside the crime scene and watch?"

"Looks like," Sam shrugged.

Sarah was sitting at the kitchen table, looking through her books. "I've scanned through each book several times and I can't find anything that matches these attacks," she leaned back in the chair.

"Come on, Peanut, you should recognize these attacks better than we could," Sam told his niece.

"It's nothing I've read before," she shrugged.

"Really? Didn't your mom read bedtime stories to you? Or your grandparents?" he asked.

Her right eyebrow rose, "You mean like fairy tales?"

"Yeah, you know, _The Three Little Pigs_, _Hansel and Gretel_, those types of stories."

"If it didn't involve some type of supernatural creature, or dragons , I wasn't interested. Besides, my mom read a bedtime story? I would have loved to see that."

"All right, what about old Disney flicks?" Sam asked.

Sarah crossed her arms, across her chest. "Yeah, I've seen those. Why? What does fairy tales and Disney movies have to do with these attacks?"

"Well, I've been thinking about them," he shrugged.

Dean looked over at his brother when he heard Sam say he was thinking about fairy tales and Disney movies. "That's nice," he grinned over at Sam, "you think about those often?"

"No, Dean, I'm talking about the murders. A guy and a girl, hiking through the woods, an old lady tries to eat them? That's _Hansel and Gretel_. Then we have three brothers arguing over how to build houses, attacked by the big, bad wolf." Sam was walking over to the table to grab his jacket off the back of a chair where he left it and slung it over his left arm.

"_Three Little Pigs_."

Sam agreed.

Dean looked away for a second and smirked, "Actually, those guys were a little chubby."

"Wait, I thought those stories ended with fakery, happy endings," Sarah asked. "That's one of the reasons I hated them and stayed away."

"You don't like happy endings?" Sam asked of his niece, confused.

"Oh no, I like happy endings," she corrected, nodding. "I just don't like the sappy, fake endings that fairy tales portray since life doesn't turn out like that."

"So you didn't check out the real versions by the Grimm brothers?"

Sarah looked up at her uncle, also confused, "There's real versions?"

"Yeah, you see, the Grimm brothers' stuff was kind of like the folklore of its day," Sam explained, "full of sex, violence, cannibalism. Then it got sanitized over the years, turned into Disney flicks and bedtime stories."

Sarah was intrigued now. "I am so borrowing your computer later," she told her uncle. "My kindergarten teacher read us fairy tales at story time but I always sat back in the corner of the rug and read my own folklore. Why didn't she tell me about this stuff?"

Dean walked around the table, towards the window Sam was checking out, "I think the answer is in what you just said. You know, the key word being, kindergarten, and you being only five years old." He shrugged, "I don't know but that that would be my guess."

Sarah rolled her eyes and mimicked what her father had said. "Okay, I see your point."

"So, Sam, you think the murders are, uh, what, a reenactment?" Dean asked of his brother and shrugged, "That's a little crazy."

Sam smirked, placing his jacket back on, "Crazy as what? Every day of our lives?"

Dean shrugged at the floor, "Touché." He walked back over to the table. "How's the creepy ghost girl involved?"

"Um," Sam tried to think as he started packing up their stuff. "She must've been here for a reason. I'm willing to bet you top dollar she was at the construction site too."

"We gotta do research now, don't we," said Dean.

"Don't we always," Sarah reminded her father with a smile.

"Shut up," he teased her.

The Winchesters split up to do the research. Dean and Sarah took the public library to find out if any black-haired, pale-skinned little girls had died violent deaths or had gone missing over the last few years. Neither one of them found anything. While they were leaving the library, they met up with Sam right outside the door.

"Tell me you got something good because we've totally wasted the last six hours," Dean was telling his brother.

Sam laughed to himself. "Well, you ever hear of Lillian Bailey? She was a British medium from the 1930s."

"She got a thing for fairy tales?" he asked as they walked through a park.

"No, trances," he replied, staring at the ground. "See, she would go into these unconscious states where, um… Get this: her thoughts and actions were completely controlled by spirits."

"The ghost puppet master."

Sam agreed.

"So that kid could be in some kind of trance and is controlling people like the characters in fairy tales?" Sarah tried to make sense of everything in her head, walking in between the brothers.

"It could be," Sam replied and let out a breath. "You know, kind of a spirit hypnosis or something."

"Trances, I get," said Dean, looking away, "but fairy tale trances? That's bizarre even for us."

Suddenly, a croaking sound caught their attention. The Winchesters abruptly stopped walking and looked down to see a fat, croaking frog at their feet.

Sam looked off in the distance, "Yeah, you're right. That's completely normal."

Dean thought it over in his head. "All right, maybe it is fairly tales." He stared down at the frog that was just sitting there. "Totally messed up fairy tales. I'll tell you one thing, there's no way I'm kissing a damn frog."

"Can I catch it and keep it as a pet?" Sarah asked, looking up at her father. "I've always wanted a frog but my mom said no."

"Finally, something your mom and I agree on," he replied.

"So that would be a no then?"

"What do you think?" Dean nodded down at her.

"Come on, I got that shoe box now and I can gather leaves and stuff for it and I can feed it crickets…" Sarah tried to plead with her father.

"The answer is no. Frogs are disgusting and can give you warts. If you want a pet, go find a pet rock," he told her, sternly.

"Rocks don't do anything," she said.

"Exactly my point. Easy to take care of, and you don't have to worry about them dying on you."

Sam had been looking over at a house, across the street. There was a pumpkin sitting on the front porch and mice scurrying around it. "Hey, guys," he interrupted the father and daughter conversation. "Check that out."

Dean and Sarah looked over at where Sam was staring at.

Sarah shrugged, "So?"

"It's close to Halloween," Dean added.

"You remember Cinderella?" he asked them. "With the pumpkin that turns into a coach and the mice that become horses?"

Dean slowly turned to look at his brother and asked, "Dude, could you be more gay?"

Sam looked over at his brother and shrugged, not saying a word before he looked back at the house.

"Don't answer that," Dean shook his head as he looked back at the house himself.

The Winchesters decided to check it out. Dean picked the lock on the front door before they headed inside. "Well who knows," he said, looking around the house. "Maybe we'll find your fairy godmother." Dean chuckled when Sam glared at him.

The three of them went three different ways until they heard a noise and got out their guns, heading in the direction Sam took, eventually walking into the kitchen where a young woman was handcuffed to the stove, beaten, battered, and bruised. She explained her stepmother had gone crazy and beaten her, chaining her to the stove.

It was Dean to notice the little girl standing back, watching them and got his brother and daughter's attention. The girl then quickly walked away. He made to stand up but Sarah grabbed his arm and stood up, herself. She slowly followed after the girl, looking around the house as she placed her gun back inside her jacket.

Heading back into the front room, Sarah saw her through an open doorway.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Sarah assured the girl.

The girl then turned and walked away again. Sarah continued to follow after her, until she heard the wooden floor creak behind her and turned around. The girl was standing there, staring at her.

"What's your name?" Sarah asked, politely.

The girl didn't respond. She just stood there, staring. Suddenly, the girl disappeared, which surprised Sarah. All that was left behind was a small, red apple. Sarah reached down and picked it up to look the apple over. Little girl, red apple. That sounded familiar to her but she couldn't place it.

Her father interrupted her thoughts. "Find anything?" he asked her.

Sarah tossed the apple to him, catching Dean off guard. "She disappeared and left this. You know what that means or should we ask the fairy tale expert?" she asked.

"Well, Sam's taking care of the other girl right now, but uh…" he thought about the apple and the girl. "Yeah, I got nothing."

Dean and Sarah waited outside for Sam who walked outside when the young woman was taken care of. Dean tossed the apple to him, "So, little girl, shiny, red apple. I'm guessing that means something to you, fairy tale boy."

Sam caught it in his hands, "I think its Snow White."

"_Snow White_?" Dean thought about that. "Aw, I saw that movie." He walked around to his side of the Impala. "Well, the porn version anyway. There was this wicked stepmother, phew. She was wicked."

"There is a wicked stepmother," Sam leaned on the roof of the Impala, "and she tries to kill Snow White with a poisoned apple."

"But the apple doesn't actually kill the girl, right?" he asked.

"No," Sam replied, examining the apple, turning it over in his hands. "Puts her in a deep sleep. So deep it's almost like she's dead." He tossed the apple over his head, back at his brother who caught it in one hand before the three of them slid into the Impala.

"Yeah, now I remember," Sarah realized as she climbed into the backseat. "There's a Disney movie of it. That's the one where the girl basically walks right into someone's home when they're not home and cleans their house without permission, and then seven little men come home and they're not mad at all. In fact, they let her live there."

"You know, you never evaluated _The Lion King_ like this," Sam pointed out.

"So, what's your point?" she shrugged at her uncle.

Sam was leaning his arm on the back of the front seat, "My point is I was under the impression that you liked Disney flicks."

"Oh, I do. Like fairy tales though, I hate princess movies. I mean, they're all the same, basically. Oh, someday my prince will come and I will be very happy," she mimicked the cliché movies. "News flash, it doesn't work that way either."

"Please tell me you didn't tell any of this to your cousin and destroy her childhood dreams," he said, hopeful.

"What and let her grow up, thinking she had to be pretty to be successful in life?" Sarah shook her head. "I don't think so. Unfortunately, she didn't buy it and told me I was jealous that I wasn't a beautiful princess like her parents brainwashed her to be."

Sam couldn't help but smile. "Sarah, that's what little girls like to pretend as. They want to think they could be a princess and grow up to marry a prince, it doesn't mean they will and they eventually grow out of it."

"Yeah, into make-up painted woman who don't want to be seen without it in public," Sarah pointed out, this time, her arms folded. "So tell me, growing up wanting to be a princess doesn't have any influence in that."

Sam looked over at his brother, raising his eyebrows at him.

Dean caught him, out of the corner of his eye and looked at Sam, fully. "What?" he asked, defensively. "Kid's got a point."

"Oh really, Mister I-pick-up-pretty-girls-in-bars," he told him, matter-of-factly.

Dean tried to object to that but stopped, knowing his brother was right. "Well, at least my daughter has the right idea."

Sam nodded in agreement. It felt weird having a niece not believe in the whole princess craze that other girls enjoyed but at least Sarah was being her own person and wasn't trying to be like the others.


	91. Chapter 90- Bedtime Stories (part 2)

**I keep forgetting to do this, I've wanted to for a while now. If you're into food, cats, and video games, the next time you're on YouTube, check out a young man named Stephen! He has two channels, a Let's Play channel where he does commentary while playing video games and has his own vlog channel. The channels are called, "StephenPlays" and "Stephenvlog" and he's super awesome! Check him out if you haven't already!**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 90

The Winchesters headed back to the hospital and asked one of the nurses if there were any comatose little girls staying there as patients. There were only elderly men and Callie, daughter of one of the doctors who refused to give up on her. The Winchesters exchanged looks between each other, figuring that may be the girl that's been forcing people to kill each other. After asking for directions to her room, they headed up there. The doctor Dean spoke to before was in the middle of reading a story to his daughter.

Sarah watched and listened. Even though she learned to read at an early age, Sarah would have liked if her mother had read to her, at least once. She looked up at her father, who was standing there waiting for the doctor to finish and wondered if she was considered too old to be read to now. Callie there, lying stiffly on the hospital bed, looked like she was an adult and her father was reading to her. Of course, Callie didn't really have a choice. She was comatose, after all.

Eventually, the doctor noticed the Winchesters and stopped reading, walking over to them as he removed his glasses. "Detectives," he nodded at them. "Can I help you?"

Dean hesitated, not knowing what to say. "We just heard Callie is your daughter."

"And we wanted to say how very sorry we are," Sam added.

The doctor nodded at the floor, with his hands on his sides. "Well, um, thank you." He paused for a second before he said, "If you'll excuse me," as he squeezed in between them.

"Oh, we're heading this way, we'll walk with you," Dean told him as they followed him. "How long has Callie been like that?"

Sam quickly added, "We don't mean to intrude. We can't possibly understand how hard it must be for you seeing her like this."

"Yeah, it's not easy," the doctor agreed, sadly.

Dean tried not to think about how it would be if Sarah was ever in that state. He'd probably hold on too, just like how the doctor was.

"She's, uh, been here since she was eight years old," the doctor explained.

Sam asked, "That's when she was poisoned?"

The doctor was staring at the ground, with his hands in his pockets. "Yes, uh, swallowed bleach. Never figured out how she got her hands on the bottle."

The Winchesters were thinking about what the doctor was saying, over in their minds as he continued.

"My wife found her, brought her to the ER. Here, and I was on call."

"Your wife was, uh," said Dean. "Was that Callie's stepmother?"

The doctor stopped walking to look at Dean. "Actually, yes. How'd you know that?"

Dean shrugged, "Lucky guess."

"Well, Julie was the only mother that, uh, Callie ever knew. My wife passed away, last year and, uh…it's just me and my daughter now."

Sam and Dean exchanged glances between each other.

"She's all I got left." The doctor glanced at his watch. "Um, excuse me, I've gotta get back to work."

Dean nodded at him, in understanding, "Yeah."

The doctor then walked off, leaving the Winchesters alone. The three of them started walking as Dean said, "Well, you're right. It's _Snow White_ in spades."

Sam agreed, "Yup. Stepmom poisons the girl, puts her into a deep sleep. What's the motive, you think?"

Sarah shrugged, "I got nothing."

"Could be like Mischa Barton," Dean guessed.

Sam was staring at the floor until he looked up at his brother, confused.

"_Sixth Sense_, not _The O.C._"

"What?" Sam shrugged, still confused.

"Hey, you know fairy tales, I know movies. She played the pasty ghost."

Sarah realized what her father was referring to. "Oh, the ghost that kept throwing up because her mom was poisoning her soup, keeping her in bed?"

"Yeah, the mom had that thing where you keep the kid sick so you would get all the attention," Dean explained.

"Oh, yeah," Sam remembered as well. "Uh, Munchausen Syndrome by proxy. Huh, could be."

"Wait, there's a name for it?" Sarah asked.

"Pretty much. Anything these days has a medical term for it."

"So, all these years," said Dean, "Callie's been suffering silently because no one knows the truth about what Mommy Dearest did."

"And after all this time," Sam added, "her spirit just gets angrier and angrier until it finally starts lashing out." He stopped and turned back to look at his brother.

"Meanwhile, she has to listen to Dad tell her these deranged stories about a rabid wolf or a cannibalistic old lady. It's enough to drive anybody nuts."

"So, what?" Sarah shrugged, "We go in there and pull the plug when no one's looking?"

"Her father probably has her on high security," Sam replied.

"We can't exactly burn her bones either," Dean added right as the paramedics were bringing in a badly injured, elderly woman, looking like she was attacked by a wild dog. "What was the last story Dr. Garrison was reading Callie?"

"_Little Red Riding Hood_," Sam replied.

The three of them approached the head paramedic, who was looking over his chart as the doctors placed a sheet over the elderly woman. "Excuse me," Sam interrupted, politely before the Winchesters showed the paramedic their badges. "Was she the only victim?"

"She was found on the side of the road, barely alive," he explained. "Alone."

"We need to find her next of kin," said Dean.

The paramedic looked through his paperwork. "She has a granddaughter."

"Do you have an address?"

He handed Dean one of the forms, which Dean thanked him for, walking away. Sam and Sarah also thanked the paramedic before following Dean.

"You find a way to stop Callie, all right?" Dean told Sam when they were out of earshot.

Sam asked, "What about you?"

He stopped and turned to face his brother. "I'm gonna go stop the big, bad wolf. Which is the weirdest thing I've ever said."

"I'm coming too, Dad," Sarah spoke up. "If there's another kid involved, I want to help."

"The big, bad wolf's gonna be human, Sarah," Dean reminded her.

"I know, I can help the kid while you fight off the "wolf,'" she said, using air quotes.

Dean saw her point and gave in. They hurried out of the hospital to where Dean had parked the Impala and jumped in. Looking at the address, Sarah looked the elderly woman's house up in a U.S. roadmap booklet, directing her father there as he drove.

Eventually, they pulled up to the house and jumped out, hurrying up to the front door where Dean kicked it in. Both father and daughter burst in with their guns raised in front of them, waving them around. Dean closed the door behind Sarah and motioned for her to follow him, with his head. They hurried into the other room, where a little girl around Sarah's age, possibly older was crouched behind an end table, terrified and crying. Dean and Sarah rushed to her side, quickly, making sure the coast was clear, kneeling down to her level, on the floor.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked.

"Yeah," the little girl replied then suddenly screamed at a man standing behind him.

Sarah was the first to notice before her father, who immediately started to fight with him. The man tried to wrestle the gun out of Dean's hand, making it into a fist fight.

As Dean fought with the man, he yelled for Sarah to get the girl out of there. Sarah didn't hesitate at all. She quickly turned to the other girl and assured her everything would be fine and to follow her. The girl took Sarah's hand and allowed her to lead the girl to safety.

Taking the long way around, Sarah quickly and carefully led the girl towards the front door before Dean had to do something graphic, like kill him and have the girl witness something like that. Dashing down the front hall, Sarah told her not to look at the fight going on in the next room and threw open the front door, shoving the girl outside and shut it behind them.

Once outside, Sarah quickly put her gun away as the girls hurried down the steps before someone saw it and got the wrong idea.

"Thank you," the girl said once they were safe.

Sarah was staring over at one of the windows, trying to hear what was going on. She barely heard the girl thank her. "Oh, yeah. No problem," she told her.

"So, is that your dad in there?" she asked.

Sarah nodded, still not removing her eyes from the window, "Yes."

"Are you both cops or something? Because you look really young, younger than me even."

She sighed, letting out a long, annoyed breath. "I'm nine," she finally said. "Me and my dad, we help people." Sarah just left it at that as she continued to try and listen, to see what was happening inside. It felt like forever as Sarah listened to the sounds of her father and the other man grunt and fight against each other. Her heart was beating fast, every fiber in her body wanting, pleading for Sarah to run back in there and help her father. But Sarah knew she had to follow orders and stay out there with the girl. It wasn't an easy task though.

Soon, the noises stopped and everything was quiet inside. Not long after that, the front door opened and both men walked outside. Sarah, protectively shielded the little girl when she saw the man, her right hand inside her jacket, wrapped around the handle of her gun. Dean assured her everything was fine now, that Sam must have succeeded at getting Dr. Garrison to let go of his own daughter. Sarah then rushed right over and hugged her father around the legs, glad he was okay.

Taking the girl with them, Dean drove back to the hospital where they met up with Sam again, assuring him and Dr. Garrison that the girl was fine.

"So it's finally over," the doctor nodded at the floor.

Sam was staring at the hard, tiled floor. He looked up to answer, "Yeah. All thanks to you," nodding his head.

"Callie was the most important thing in my life," the doctor took in a deep breath, looking between the men since they were eye level, "but I should have let her go a long time ago."

Dean looked down at his own daughter when the doctor had mentioned letting his own daughter go, hoping Sarah was paying attention even though it was painful to hear. "See you around, doc," he managed to say when the doctor turned to leave.

The doctor let out another breath of air. "I sure hope not," he said and forced a small laugh before walking away.

The Winchesters watched him go until he was out of sight then Dean turned towards his brother and daughter, "You know what he said? Some good advice."

Sam scrunched his eyebrows together while Sarah quickly looked up at her father. Finally, he asked, "Is that what you want us to do, Dean?"

Dean looked away, trying to hold a tear back as he tried not to think about leaving behind his daughter.

"Just let you go?"

Dean tried to look his daughter in the face but couldn't so he looked at his brother. It was much easier to face Sam then it was Sarah because he knew Sarah was on the verge of tears again and that, in turn would make him bust out and cry. So after sharing a quick look with his brother, Dean headed towards the exit.

Sam and Sarah just stood there, not saying a word. Sarah stared down at the floor before she felt her uncle staring down at her and looked up, meeting his eyes. They shared a saddened look between each other and both looked down the darkened hallway at Dean's back as he walked away. A tear drifted down Sarah's cheek. She finally moved, wrapping her arms around her uncle's legs and buried her face in them. Sam reached down and lifted his niece up, onto his left side and slowly followed after Dean.

Later, that night, Sarah had finished getting ready for bed. She came out in her pajamas, which were sky blue, plain pajama pants and a darker blue, faded Pikachu T-shirt. She stuffed her dirty clothes inside her duffel bag, along with her hygiene stuff. She noticed one of her _Pokémon _graphic novels in there and pulled it out, looking at the cover before looking up at her father, who was sitting up in bed, checking his phone.

Sarah decided to crawl over to her father and dropped herself down, next to him. "Dad, I know I'm old enough to read to myself and all," she held the backwards graphic novel out to him, "but can you read this to me like Dr. Garrison was reading to Callie?"

Dean looked at the graphic novel then over at his daughter. "You're not gonna control people and make them battle each other, are you?" He snickered at his own joke.

Sarah couldn't help but smile too. "No, of course not, Dad."

Dean closed his phone and tossed it onto the nightstand, on his right side of the bed before taking the graphic novel from his daughter and flipped to the first page. He wrapped his left arm around her and started to read out loud. As he read, he tried to have each character have a different voice, trying to match their voices from the TV show but failed. He tried though and Sarah appreciated it.

About halfway through the book, Sarah's eyelids started feeling heavy and soon, she was asleep. Dean saw out of the corner of his eye when he noticed her steady breathing. Putting the book on the nightstand with his phone, he turned off the lamp and laid down with her, falling asleep as well, his daughter in his arms, protectively.

"I love you, Baby Girl," he yawned, sleepily as he drifted off to sleep. "No matter where I am, you will always be in my heart." Dean didn't care how cheesy that sounded or even if his brother was awake to hear it, that was his little girl and he really did mean it.


	92. Chapter 91- Red Sky at Morning (part 1)

**Though he would never see this, I just wanted to congratulate Jensen Ackles on the arrival of his new healthy, happy baby girl, Justice Jay Ackles! So happy for him and his wife! :) (born May 30, 2013)**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 91

The Winchesters were the middle of yet another argument as they headed for their next hunting gig. This time, Sam was trying to push Dean into trying to figure out who holds the contract to Dean's deal but since Dean had shot the only lead they had in finding that out, there was nothing left to do and Dean didn't want to talk about it anymore. Sam tried to press the matter further but Dean wouldn't budge. If the crossroads demon couldn't do anything about it now, what else were there? This Ruby chick? No thanks, nothing good came out of trusting demons. If something did turn up that could help them, by all means, Dean would be up for listening but other than that, he didn't even want to think about any of it.

They finally arrived near the coast and spoke with the aunt of one of the mysterious drownings' victims. During the conversation, they learned of someone named Alex who she had spoken with already and was told it was already solved. Sam assured her it wasn't and the aunt continued explaining to the three of them about her niece. She explained how her niece had mentioned seeing a boat that suddenly appeared then disappeared just as quickly, and how this Alex person thought it was a ghost ship.

Also, during the interrogation, the woman couldn't help see how attractive Sam was and Dean and Sarah found it hard to hold their laughter in while keeping a straight face. By the time the Winchesters left the woman's home, Sarah couldn't hold it any longer and the minute they were alone and heading towards where the Impala was parked, she started teasing her uncle.

"So Uncle Sam," she giggled up at him, barely able to get the words out without cracking up. "Is…is that my future aunt?" Sarah starting laughing.

Sam kept walking, looking away. "Ha ha," he told her, sarcastically. "Very funny, Peanut. You're so funny."

Sarah tried to contain herself but continued to grin. "Hey, I think you two make a lovely couple. So when will I expect an invitation to the wedding?"

Dean was grinning as well. "She was a crazy, old broad."

Sam asked, "Why, because she believed in ghosts?"

"Look at you, sticking up for your girlfriend, you cougar hound," he laughed.

"Both of you bite me," Sam told his brother and niece.

Sarah asked, "Shouldn't you bite her? I mean, that what Dad said you're supposed to do when you were spying on Meg, that one time."

Sam suddenly stopped and grabbed his niece up and held her upside down on his left shoulder. "You asked for it, Peanut," he gave a smirk at her and tickled her stomach.

"No, Uncle Sam," she laughed, trying to protect her stomach. "Dad, help."

Dean shrugged, walking ahead of them, "You're on your own, kid."

When Sam couldn't get to her stomach anymore, he switched to her back and switched back when Sarah removed her hands to protect her back. Sam kept tickling her for a minute before he stopped and put his niece down on her feet again.

"I'm gonna get you back for that," she threatened her uncle with a grin.

"Oh really. Well, good luck with that, Peanut," he smiled in return.

Dean looked back over his shoulder as he continued walking, "I've been meaning to ask you, Sam. Why do you call Sarah, peanut? I find it ironic, seeing how she's allergic to peanuts and can't even eat them."

Sam shrugged, walking beside his brother again. "Compared to my size, Sarah's tiny like a small peanut. I thought it was cute," he explained.

"Yeah, I'm going to let that comment slide since you're my uncle. You and Dad are the only ones that can get away with the short remarks now," Sarah told him, walking in between the brothers with her hands shoved in the pockets of her dress pants.

"Anyway, who is this Alex?" Dean changed the subject as they continued walking. "We got another player in town?"

"If we do, I hope he's nothing like Gordon was." Dean brushed his right hand along the top of his daughter's head when she said that, smiling.

"It doesn't change our job," Sam added.

"We're thinking ghost ship, right?" he said, staring at the ground.

"Right, and not the first one to be sighted around here, either."

He looked up at his brother, "Really?"

"Yeah, every thirty-seven years, like clockwork," Sam explained. "Reports of a vanishing three-mast, clipper ship out in the bay."

Sarah was staring at the ground, listening to her uncle. "I thought ghost ships only appeared out in the middle of an ocean, after a huge storm?"

"They can appear anywhere, any time, usually at night, and with this one, every thirty-seven years, a rash of weirdo dry-land drownings."

"So whatever's happening is just getting started?" Dean asked.

Sam replied, "Yeah."

"What's the lore?"

"There are apparitions of old wrecks sighted all over the world. The _S.S. Violet_, the _Griffon_, the _Flying Dutchman_," he listed a few.

"Best _Spongebob _character ever, by the way," Sarah pointed out. "Well, besides Patrick, anyway. That Flying Dutchman was the reason I started looking into ghost ships. I never really finished that research after I got grounded from the computer and just never went back to it."

"Couldn't stay off those dating sites, could ya?" Dean laughed, teasing her.

Sarah made like she was going to kick her father in the leg until he ducked out of the way. "Anyway, what I did find out was that a ghost ship could be a death omen, right, Uncle Sam?" she looked back up at Sam.

"Right," he replied.

"So what happens?" Dean asked, looking at the ground again. "You see the ship, then a few hours later you pucker up and kiss your ass good-bye?"

"Basically."

"What's the next step?"

"I gotta ID the boat," said Sam.

Dean shrugged, looking forward, "Shouldn't be too hard. How many three-mast clipper ships are wrecked off the coast?"

Sam snickered to himself. "I checked that out too, actually. Over one hundred and fifty."

Dean stared at his brother, shocked to hear there were that many ship wrecks and looked forward again. "Wow."

Sam agreed.

"Crap."

He agreed again.

"I'll help you, Uncle Sam. That sounds like a lot of research," Sarah assured her uncle.

Sam smiled down at his niece. "Thanks, Peanut."

The Winchesters walked up a few steps and over to where Dean had parked the Impala. However, the Impala wasn't there.

"This is where we parked the car, right?" Dean asked his brother and daughter.

"I'm pretty sure, Dad," Sarah told him. "Did you feed the meter?"

"Yes, I fed the meter," he replied, close to having a panic attack. Where's my car?" Dean stepped back onto the sidewalk and yelled out, "Somebody stole my car?"

"Hey, hey," Sam held his hand out to his brother, "Calm down, Dean."

Dean kept walking past them, his anger rising. "I am calm down. Someone stole my…." He suddenly keeled over, holding onto his knees like he couldn't breathe. Sarah was frantically looking for the Impala as well since she loved that car as much as her father did and was also close to a panic attack.

Sam had been looking the other way until he heard their heavy breathing, and tried to calm the two of them down

"The '67 Impala?" a woman's voice asked. "Was that yours?" The Winchesters looked over to see none other than Bela walking towards them, a grin on her face.

"Bela," Sam said, not amused to see her, especially after what she did to Sarah.

She stopped in front of them. "I'm sorry, I had that car towed."

Dean had made to go after the woman but Sam kept him from doing so, holding Dean back. "You what?" he demanded.

"Well, it was in a tow-away zone."

"No it wasn't," Dean told her, angrily, bitterness and pure hatred in his eyes as he stared at the woman responsible for shooting his daughter.

Bela was very calm. "It was when I finished with it," she smirked.

Sarah made a move towards the woman until her uncle grabbed her in one arm, holding her back. "Look, _Hermione_," she growled, just as angry as her father, "I'm usually a very forgiving person and all, and I rarely don't hate that often but you, you're on my hate list, right now."

It got to where it was a challenge for poor Sam, trying to hold back his brother and niece, who both wanted to rip Bela to shreds. "Peanut, that's enough," he told her, sternly.

"Do you not remember what she did?" she asked of him.

"Yes, I do and trust me when I say I would like to do something, myself." Sarah stopped struggling against her uncle, making it a little easier to hold back his brother who wasn't about to let up, or at least until he could get one good punch in. Really thinking about it, Dean realized he shouldn't have let Bela just leave that easily but he had just wanted her out of his sight. "Set a good example for your daughter, Dean."

"Oh I will," Dean said, still eyeing Bela.

"And how is punching her in the face, a good example?" Sam asked.

"By showing Sarah that no bad deed goes unpunished."

"Is that what you teach your kid, Dean?" asked Bela. "Not a very subtle parent, are you?"

None of the Winchesters said a word. They just glared at her.

"What the hell are you even doing here?" Dean demanded of her.

She shrugged, looking away, "A little yachting."

"You're Alex," Sam realized, making Dean and Sarah look up at him. "You're working with that old lady."

"Gert's a dear old friend."

Sam was able to release his grip on his brother but still kept his guard up in case Dean decided to lash out again.

Dean nodded over at Bela, "Yeah, right. What's your angle?"

"There's no angle. There's a lot of lovely old women like Gert up and down the eastern seaboard. I sell them charms, perform séances so they can commune with their dead cats."

"So, in other words, you're scamming those innocent, old ladies," Sarah spoke up, her arms folded, tightly across her chest.

"I provide them with comfort." Bela then turned and walked away.

"How do you sleep at night?" Sam asked her, amazed.

Bela turned around, smiling, "On silk sheets, rolling naked in money."

Surprisingly, that didn't bring one thought to Dean's mind. He was completely turned off from Bela for what she had done to Sarah and the pain she put her through.

"Really, Sam. I'd expect the attitude from them. But you?"

Sam stared at the woman in disbelief, "You shot my niece."

"I barely grazed her," she told him like it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah?" Sarah nodded at the cold woman. "The pain in my shoulder said otherwise, you wretched, old…"

"Sarah," Sam cut her off, still staring Bela down.

Sarah shrugged, "What? I was gonna say witch."

"More like bitch," Dean also eyed her, wanting so badly to hit Bela.

"I'm not allowed to say that word, remember?"

Dean glanced at his daughter for a second. "I would have given you a freebie."

She threw up her hands, to the sides, "Now you tell me that."

Dean turned back to Bela, "You do know what's going on here? This ghost ship thing, it is real."

Bela looked over at him, "I'm aware. Thanks for telling Gert the case wasn't solved, by the way."

"It's not," Sarah spat at her.

"She didn't know that." Bela stared at the little girl, coldly but Sarah didn't flinch. She looked at the brothers. "Now the old bag's stopped payment and now she's demanding some real answers." Taking a deep breath in, "Look, just stay out of my way before you cause any more trouble."

"We can say the same to you."

Bela just ignored Sarah, sliding her hands into her pockets. "I'd get to that car if I were you before they find the arsenal in the trunk." She then turned and walked away.

The Winchesters watched her leave. "Can I shoot her?" Dean asked.

Sam shook his head and took in a deep breath, wanting so badly to say yes, "Not in public."


	93. Chapter 92- Red Sky by Morning (part 2)

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 92

Unfortunately, the Winchesters ran into Bela again the very next day after they learned of another victim who drowned. Showing his badge, Dean released Bela away from the victim's brother and apologized to him. Sam placed an assuring arm around the man's shoulders, walking the other way. The man described the ship in full detail as a Yankee Chippers ship and that he had saw it with his brother when they were night diving. The Winchesters had to leave though when they saw Bela talking to the police.

The three of them headed back to the Impala which they were able to retrieve from the impound lot in time, and started loading up their shotguns with salt ammo.

Bela walked up behind the Winchesters. "I see you got your car back."

Dean looked forward, wanting so much to shoot the woman right then and there. "You really wanna come near me when I have a loaded gun in my hands?" He looked back at her.

"Now, now," she told him, calmly. "Mind your blood pressure. Why are you even still here? You have enough to ID the boat."

Sam was finishing loading the shotgun in his hands. "That guy back there saw the ship," he told her as he placed it in the trunk and closed it. The three of them turned around to face Bela.

"Yeah, and?"

"And he's next on the list," said Sarah.

"So we have to save him," Sam added.

Bela grinned at them, "How sweet."

Sam rolled his eyes.

"You think this is funny?" Dean asked of her.

She turned to Dean, "He's cannon fodder. He can't be saved in time and you know it."

Sam and Dean exchanged disbelief looks between each other as Sarah shot back, "We still have to try."

"Come on, Baby Girl," Dean led his daughter away from the cold-hearted woman. "She's not even worth the argument anymore."

"I'm gonna find the ship and put an end to it," Bela called out to them as they walked over to slide into the Impala. "But you have fun."

Dean had opened Sarah's door for her and looked back at Bela before exchanging another look with Sam who let out an annoyed sigh. He walked back over to Bela, "hey, Bela, how'd you get like this, huh? What, did Daddy not give you enough hugs or something?"

"I don't know," she replied, stiffly. "Your daddy give you enough? Do you give yours enough?"

Dean smirked at her.

"Don't you dare look down your nose at me. You're no better than I am."

He looked away for a second. "We help people," he told her.

She scoffed at that, "Come on. You do this out of vengeance and obsession. You're a stone's throw from being a serial killer."

Sarah stormed back over to Bela. "You don't even know who we are so how can you just stand there and judge us like that. We do this so people can live their lives, not having to fear the dark. We kill monsters who are killing innocent people."

"You're deciding who gets to live or die. Deep down, killing's still killing, am I right?" Bela smirked at her.

Sarah couldn't respond at all, she knew Bela had her cornered.

Dean stepped in, "All right, that's enough." He led his daughter away from Bela again and made sure she got into the Impala, this time before closing her door and slid into his seat, shutting his. Sam slid into the front seat. Twisting around in his seat, Dean assured Sarah, "Hey, don't let her get to you, all right? You and I and Sam, we know what we do. She's just trying to make herself look better because she's a stone cold, little bitch."

Sarah was staring at the plastic figurine of Yoshi, Sam had bought for her as his surprise Dean had promised her for ditching Sarah at Bobby's, and nodded.

He leaned over the front seat to kiss the top of her head before sitting back in his seat and moved the Impala around so they could keep an eye on the latest victim's brother. Dean tried to cheer Sarah up by asking who Yoshi was. Sarah scooted towards the edge and leaned against the back of the front seat, standing the green dinosaur with a red saddle on its back on it, explaining who he was.

"You have to show me the next time we're at Bobby's," he said with a smile when Sarah was finished.

"He's really good in _Mario Kart 64_ and _Double Dash_," she explained, her spirits lifted now. On top of having a Nintendo 64 that Mark had given her, she also had a Nintendo GameCube a teenaged cousin gave her for her sixth birthday much to her mother's protests. Both of them she kept at Bobby's house since Dean figured they'd be better off there then kept in a trunk all the time.

The Winchesters waited there until way after nightfall, keeping a watchful eye for anything suspicious, like a ghost ship while Sam looked through information on the brothers, trying to find a connection. They couldn't really figure out why any of them, including Gert's niece, saw the ship.

The man had noticed they were watching him and came outside, calling for them. Sam and Dean tried to assure him they were there to protect the guy, but he wouldn't believe them and got into his car and drove away. The guy's car suddenly stalled before he even left the driveway. Realizing something was wrong, Sam told Dean to run back to the trunk and grab the shotguns. Sarah ran after her father to help him while Sam climbed over the fence and over to the guy's car. The three of them tried desperately to rescue the guy in time but had gotten there a little too late. At least they were able to see the spirit for themselves so they knew what they were dealing with but the guy was dead just like his brother and Gert's niece.

Later, Dean drove down a deserted highway while a weatherman explained about a sudden change in the weather that evening. The family was quiet which no one said anything for a long time. Sarah leaned back in her seat, sideways as she made Yoshi jump across the car door. Now and then, Dean would watch her in the rear-view mirror and looked at his brother who was staring off into space, beating himself up over not being able to save the guy.

Finally, Dean switched off the radio and broke the silence. "Any one of you want to say it or should I?"

Sam and Sarah looked at him. "What?" Sam asked, bitterly.

"We can't save everybody," he said.

Sam looked away for a few seconds, shrugging his shoulders, "Yeah, right. So what, you feel better now or what?"

Dean focused on the road, driving with his left hand at the very top of the steering wheel. "No, not really," he shook his head as well.

"Me neither," Sam agreed, quietly.

"I wish we could save everyone," Sarah spoke up, not lifting her head. She had moved her eyes towards the brothers instead.

"I know, Baby Girl but you gotta understand…."

Sam interrupted his brother, "Lately I feel like I can't save anybody." He shook his head once at the dash, in front of him. Dean looked over at his brother, still keeping an eye on the road. Sarah watched her uncle too until she finally sat up and moved over to the other side of the seat to wrap her arms around Sam's neck from behind, assuring him everything would be okay and reminded him about the last few hunts they went on that they were successful on saving. Afterwards, she kissed him on his left cheek and stayed like that for a while until Dean found a place they could crash for the night.

When they did, it was an old abandoned house. When Sam lied down on one of the old, worn out beds, Sarah came in and climbed up, beside him, holding her monkey in her left arm.

"What are you doing, Peanut?" he asked his niece, surprised.

"I figured you could use the company tonight, if that's okay with you, Uncle Sam," she replied, softly.

Sam couldn't help smile at his niece. "Okay, come here."

Sarah moved even closer and lied down beside her uncle, snuggling against him which Sam wrapped his arm around her. Out of nowhere, she started to sing the _Dumbo_ song she sang for her father, to her uncle, changing the word "baby" to "Sammy." Sam smiled some more as she sang the words to him, touched how his niece used a song she normally would sing to her father, to him. It almost brought tears to his eyes and he could feel them welding up, inside. Before they knew it, uncle and niece were fast asleep, with Sam's arm wrapped protectively around her like Dean would.

A few minutes after the two of them had fallen asleep Dean wandered in, looking for Sarah. He stopped and noticed where she was and couldn't help smile at the scene. He moved closer to the bed, grabbing a blanket off the foot of it and shook it out before covering both his brother and daughter with it. Dean leaned over to kiss Sarah good-night, on the side of her forehead and slowly stood up, straight, still watching the scene. With how close those two were by now, Dean figured, maybe Sarah would be okay…eventually. Okay so Dean wasn't one hundred percent sure on that one but he could only hope.

After realizing how creepy and stalker-ish it looked, watching his brother and daughter sleep, Dean left the room and headed right across the hall to the room he and Sarah was going to stay in, and lied down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He thought about the last couple of years he spent together with the three of them, especially he and Sarah. Thinking about it made his insides turn and his face feel hot like he was going to start crying any minute. The truth was Dean was scared. Scared of hell and scared of leaving behind his daughter. He really wasn't sure how Sarah would deal with him being gone. He kept imaging the Holdens finding her and taking Sarah away and him not being there to help her.

Finally, a tear drifted down from his right eye as he stared up at the dark ceiling. Dean wished he had a beer at that moment because he could really use a drink. Out of nowhere, he couldn't help but open his mouth and utter something he never thought he would do, "I don't know if You're really there or not. I'm still questioning You but Sarah, I watch her do this every single day. I don't know what to do. I'm a horrible father for making that deal and leave behind my only kid even after the hell she grew up with. Please, if You are there, help us. Help my little girl. Sarah carries so much for one little girl…." Dean tried to keep his voice steady but it wasn't an easy task. He couldn't believe he was doing this. He wasn't even sure if anyone was listening. "If I do have to go to hell, take care of Sarah and Sam," he shook his head at the ceiling, "don't let those sons of bitches find her. Sarah needs family, our family. In what way are those people a family to her? She doesn't need them." Dean also tried to keep his voice down. If word got out that Dean Winchester was praying, he wouldn't hear the end of it. In fact, he felt this was a one-time thing.

Dean lied there, still and quiet until his eyes felt heavy and he drifted off to sleep. It wasn't a restful sleep either. It was filled with nightmares of what hell may look like and being, literally dragged away from his daughter as they tried to hold on to each other. He tossed and turned all night until he was suddenly bolted out of a sound sleep, into a sitting position as sweat beaded down from his forehead.

Sarah was sitting beside him on the bed, sitting back on her legs as the morning light shined through the windows of the room. "Are you okay, Dad?" she asked, concerned for her father as she watched him try and catch his breath like he just ran the Detroit Marathon.

Dean wiped away the sweat with his right arm and took one last, deep breath. "Yeah, I'm okay, Baby Girl," he assured her.

She then hugged him, assuringly to comfort him. Dean immediately wrapped his arms around his daughter and found himself, squeezing her tight. "It's okay, Dad," she assured him. "Everything's gonna be okay."

He didn't mean to but Dean just blurted out, "Quit saying that, Sarah."

Sarah let go and looked at her father, surprised.

"I'm the parent, not you, Baby Girl," he changed his tone, apologetically. "I should be telling all this to you, not the other way around. You're just a kid, be a kid for Pete's sake."

"I'm sorry," she replied. "I've tried. Ever since Grandpa said it, I've tried. But I have been doing this since I lived with Mom too."

"What?" Dean couldn't believe it.

"When Mom started getting those headaches, I always thought it was my fault so I felt the need to help take care of her. I've always felt the need to care for someone when they needed it."

"I know, Baby Girl, and I'm glad you've been trying. Come here," Dean held his arms out to her which Sarah crawled over and let him pull her into his lap. "I understand how much you and Sam want to help me out of this deal I made. Trust me, I want out of this too, that's why I went and tried to get out of it myself but I don't want you pushing yourselves or getting into harm's way over this. If a year comes and goes and we haven't found a loophole then let it go, and I want you to promise me something."

Sarah looked up, into her father's green eyes, seeing them swim in brokenness. "What, Dad?" she found herself sniffing in.

"Quit hunting. Tell Sam to quit too. Move to Palo Alto and tell him to finish school and make a life for the two of you. Please, _please_, don't find a way to bring me back. I want you to go to a real school too and graduate from high school and go on to college someday. Find the right guy and have your own family away from hunting. Okay?"

Sarah looked away, thinking about it as she stared at the bed. Finally, she looked back and agreed. "But that's only if we can't find a way to save you and we're gonna find a way, no questions asked." She shook her head at him, "Uncle Sam and I, we're gonna get you out of your deal. There has to be a way, there just has to." Sarah found herself crying and Dean quickly wrapped his arms around her as he felt his own tears start to fall.

He kissed the top of her head and held his face against it for a long time as they continued to hold each other. Unknown to them, Sam had been listening in the other room. There was absolutely no way he was letting his big brother die, not just for his sake but his niece's as well. Sam was going to find a way.

The three of them researched all day, trying to find out what ship they were dealing with. That afternoon, they got an unpleasant surprise at the door. Somehow, Bela had found them. At least, the upside was she was able to tell them what ship the ghost ship was and saved them some time. Dean recognized the ghost they saw the night before in one of the photos, except the ghost was missing a hand. Bela explained how the guy was cremated but not before they cut off his hand and made it into a "hand of glory." Of course Dean had to make a smartass remark about how he thought he had gotten one, once and innocent as she was, Sarah had to ask what he meant, causing him to drop his face in his hand and tell her it wasn't important.

If things weren't looking up already, Bela also admitted that she knew where the hand was being kept. However, Sarah stated she would stay back and see if there was anything Bela might have missed. Dean wasn't too fond of that idea but with how much Sarah had grown up over the last couple years, he agreed, laying down salt at every door and window there was, and made sure Sarah had both a shotgun and her own gun before he and Bela left.

When the adults were gone and Sarah made sure the doors were locked, she took out her father's phone she had swiped from him before he left when he was hugging her and went into his contacts until she found Ellen's number and dialed it, pressing it to her ear.

The phone rang a few times before Ellen picked up. _"Hello?"_

"Miss Ellen?" Sarah said into the phone.

"_Sarah? Is everything all right? Where's your dad?"_ the woman asked, in a panicked state.

"Everything's fine, Dad and Uncle Sam's out on a hunt," Sarah assured her, walking over to sit at the table in the center of the room.

"_You're not all alone, are you?"_

"Yeah, but I asked to. I needed to talk to you. You said if I ever needed a mother's shoulder to cry on, your door was always and I need one, right now. Is it still open?" she asked.

"_Of course it is, sweetheart. Is this about your dad's deal?"_

Sarah could feel tears weld up inside her eyes again as she sniffed in, "Yeah. I don't know what else to do, Miss Ellen. If the crossroads demon doesn't hold the contract then who does?"

"_I don't know, sweetheart. I thought they did. Did one of you tried confronting it?"_

She wiped her eyes and nose on her bare arm before answering, "I guess my dad went after it when we got the Colt fixed to kill demons again."

"_Wait, I thought all the bullets were used up," _Ellen said, remembering that night in Wyoming.

Sarah hesitated not sure how to tell her that Bobby had agreed to let a demon help them.

_Sarah, how did the Colt get fixed?"_ she asked in a stern, motherly tone.

"It was Uncle Bobby's idea," Sarah automatically ratted the old hunter out. "There's this demon…." She then told Ellen everything about Ruby that she knew of.

"_You made the wisest choice not trusting her, Sarah,"_ Ellen told her when Sarah was finished. _"I can't believe out of all hunters I know, Bobby would give in."_

"He was only using her, he said but still, I didn't even want to do that. Dad was pissed we even let her speak."

"_Well, let's hope your dad stays on our side."_

More tears appeared in Sarah's eyes. "I don't want to lose my dad, Miss Ellen. He's the best dad a kid could ask for. I can't lose him, I just can't." Sarah buried her face into her folded left arm, on the table and cried while holding the phone to her ear. "I love him so much and can't bear to be apart from him, not after I prayed for him for so long."

Ellen's heart was breaking with each passing second she heard the kid's sobbing. _"I know, sweetheart," _she kept assuring her. _"It was hard on Jo too when she lost her father but you have to stay strong for him. It doesn't mean you won't miss him but you can't let it overcome your emotions. Besides, doesn't your dad always pull through, it seems?"_

Sarah kept sniffling over and over again. "Yeah, Dad's always been staring death in the face. Actually, literally at one time and he somehow managed to bounce back. Do you think he'll get out of this?"

"_Maybe. You just gotta keep your head up and keep that faith you have. It's a good thing to have and sometimes I wish I had it, myself."_

"You can, you know," Sarah told her, innocently.

"_I don't know about that, it may be too late for me but you're lucky you have it. You seem like you have enough faith for all of us, really. Hold onto it and never let that one go, you hear me?"_

Sarah sniffed in again. "Yes, Ma'am." For the remainder of the phone call, Ellen asked how everything else was going, letting Sarah talk about whatever she wanted. Sarah talked about everything she wanted to talk with her own mother about: her likes, interests, whatever she wanted and Ellen listened.

When Ellen was telling a story that related to what Sarah had said, she noticed the little girl's breathing was growing steady and realized she had fallen asleep. She whispered good-night to her and hung up.

She slept right through even when her father and uncle had returned, finding her asleep at the table and Dean's phone being held up by her right shoulder to her ear.

"Well, we know what happened to your phone, now," Sam told his brother, quietly so not to wake his niece.

Dean took it, carefully as to also not wake her and looked at who his daughter had called. "She called Ellen," he said and looked over Sam.

Sam shrugged, "So? What's wrong with that?"

"Ellen probably is the closest she has to a mom," Dean guessed and closed the phone to lift his daughter up, onto his right side, carrying her into the room he had slept in, the night before and laid her down. He then covered her up, lying down beside her. He changed in another room out of the tux he hated, back into his regular clothes before returning to the room where his daughter was still fast asleep and lied down beside her. Even though he had been conned by a thieving bitch, seeing his little girl safe and innocent couldn't keep him in an angry state for long and figured he would deal with it in the morning. Right now, he had other, important things to think about.


	94. Chapter 93- Red Sky by Morning (part 3)

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 93

The following morning, Sarah came into the main room of the abandoned house, rubbing her right eye. Sam was already up, going over Bela's research, still trying to find a pattern between the victim's deaths. He noticed his niece walking towards him.

"Morning, Peanut? How'd you sleep last night?" he asked, looking back at the photos and articles.

"Okay," she shrugged, leaning against her uncle, resting the side of her head against his left arm. "What are you doing, Uncle Sam? Didn't you and Dad find the guy's hand and burn it?"

Sam moved his left arm and wrapped it around her. "No, Bela got one over on your dad and took the hand for herself. So now we have to find another way."

"Can I help?" Sarah asked.

"Sure." Sam leaned forward to place the folder, open on the table and pulled the chair beside him out for his niece so she could look through it while he got onto his laptop. Eventually, Dean woke up, slowly making his way into the room, rubbing his eyes in his right hand.

"Morning, Dad," Sarah told him, cheerfully.

Dean reached down and kissed the top of her head, "Morning, Baby Girl."

"Uncle Sam told me what happened. Sorry she got one over on you."

Dean looked over at his brother. "Thanks, Sam," he told him, sarcastically.

Sam only shrugged, confused what he may have done to receive a sarcastic thanks.

Suddenly, there was a pounding on the front door and the three of them heard Bela call through it. The Winchesters hurried over and Dean, thrust opened the door and glared at the woman, not excited to see her.

Bela looked back at the three of them, "Please, just let me explain."

Reluctantly, they let her in and had her sit down in one of the chairs, at the table.

"I sold it," she explained to them. "I had a buyer lined up as soon as I knew it existed."

Sarah was standing on the other side of the table from Bela, with her arms folded, in front of where her uncle was leaning against the fireplace. "Who would buy a dead guy's hand?" she questioned.

"You'd be surprised what people would pay for," she told her.

Sam shifted his weight, watching her while Dean was leaning over Bela. Dean stood up and around, behind her, holding his hand like he was going to shoot her with a gun. "So the whole reason for us going to the charity ball was…?" Sam shrugged.

Bela was staring at the floor. She looked over at him, "I needed a cover."

Sam nodded, knowing exactly why she did it, already.

"You were convenient."

He shrugged, "You sold it to a buyer, why just go buy it back?"

She also shrugged, staring at the floor again, "It's halfway across the ocean. I can't get it back in time."

Sarah asked, "In time for what?"

Bela didn't say a word. She just took a deep breath.

"What's going on with you, Bela?" Sam asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I saw the ship," she admitted.

The three of them stared at her. Dean questioned, "You what?" Sam and Sarah shared looks between each other before Sarah looked back at Bela.

"Wow, you are cold and heartless, ain't ya?" Sarah told the woman.

Bela looked up at Sarah, confused, "What are you talking about?"

Sam moved closer, staring at Bela, "We'd figured out the spirit's motive." He went through the photos and pulled out one of a man, showing it to her. "This is the captain of our ship, the one who hung our ghost boy."

She looked at it and then looked up at him. "So?"

"So they were brothers," he told her and dropped the photo on the table.

"Just like Cain and Abel," Sarah added, stiffly.

"So now our spirit, he's going after a very specific kind of target," continued Sam. "People who've spilled their own family's blood. See, first there was Sheila, who killed her cousin in a car accident. Then the Warren brothers, who murdered their father for the inheritance. And now you."

Bela stared at the photo in horror. "Oh my God," she muttered.

"So who was it, Bela?" Dean asked as he leaned over her again, on the opposite side, this time. "Hmm? Who'd you kill? Was it Daddy? Your little sis, maybe?"

Bela hesitated at first. "It's none of your business," she told him, not looking up at him.

He nodded, "No. Right. Well, have a nice life. You know, whatever's left of it." Dean slapped her on the back before walking away to grab where he left his jacket. "Sam, Sarah. Let's go."

Bela stood up, quickly. "You can't just leave me here," she told him.

Sam and Sarah exchanged looks of sorrow.

"Watch us," Dean told Bela.

"Please," she begged.

Sam looked at the floor while Sarah watched Bela. Sarah really couldn't stand the woman as much as her father did and would love it if Bela got what was coming to her, especially after she shot her. But did Bela really deserve it? Even though she had murdered a family member, Sarah understood growing up in a strict family. Seeing how cold-hearted Bela was though, Sarah had to guess that wasn't the case and tried to close up her heart and followed after her father.

"I need your help."

Dean looked back, over his left shoulder and tossed his jacket back down, "Our help?" He held out his arms to the sides and walked back over to Bela, "Now how can a few serial killers possibly help you?"

"Okay, that was a bit harsh, I'd admit it," she replied. "But it doesn't warrant a death sentence."

Sam finally looked up at her again. "That's not why you're gonna die," he reminded her.

Bela looked at Sam.

"What did you do, Bela?"

"You wouldn't understand," Bela shook her head at him. "No one did."

Sarah folded her arms across her chest and stared over at the woman. "Before I met my dad, no one would believe or understand me. So why don't you try?"

Bela looked at the little girl then shifted between the brothers, who waited for an answer. "Never mind," she finally told them. "I'll just do what I've always done and deal with it myself." Bela then turned and walked towards the door.

"You do realize you just sold the only thing that could save your life?" Dean reminded her.

She turned back around, slowly, "I'm aware."

Dean just shrugged.

"Well…" Sam started to say and sighed deeply. "Maybe not the only thing."

Dean and Sarah looked over at Sam, at that.

That night, they set up a ritual in a cemetery. Dean and Sarah sat back on a gravestone, each holding a shotgun. Sarah couldn't help notice Bela watching her from time to time.

Finally, Sarah asked her, "You know it's impolite to stare, right?"

Bela looked away, over at Sam. "Do you really think this is gonna work?"

"Almost definite not." Dean was looking around the cemetery just as thunder crashed overhead and a stream of clouds suddenly appeared, blocking out the moon. Very soon, rain came down. "Damn it," he muttered and stood up to remove his jacket. "Come here, Baby Girl before you get sick again."

"But I have my jacket," she pointed out to her father.

"I just want to be extra safe. Please, Sarah, just humor me."

Sarah slid off the gravestone. Dean held his jacket behind her so she could put her arms through and quickly zipped it up and folded the sleeves up so Sarah could use her hands for the shotgun, if needed.

"What about you, Dad?" she asked, worried about her father now.

"I'll be fine, Baby Girl," he replied and called over his shoulder to his brother, "Sammy, better start reading."

Sam nodded in agreement and started reading in Latin. All the candles went out from the wind and rain as he continued. Sarah looked around, holding the shotgun in both of her hands, ready for whatever happened while Dean told both her and Bela to stay close.

Suddenly, the same ghost that they saw in the brother's car appeared behind Sarah. Dean made to shoot but he and Sarah were shoved into the air and landed on their backs, painfully. Sam tried to read as fast as he could as the ghost made his way over to Bela and placed his hand against her face.

Taking it away, water started squirting out of her mouth like a garden hose as the ghost watched. Sarah rolled over and slowly got to her knees, trying to balance herself to her feet. When Dean saw she was all right, he crawled over to Bela and called over to his brother to read faster. Sam was still trying the best he could until he finally finished.

About the time Sam finished, the rain stopped and the clouds started moving away from the moon. Sarah finally was able to get to her feet and slowly made her way over to her family and Bela. The captain of the ship appeared behind his brother, making Sarah stop abruptly.

"You," the brother hissed, angrily, "hanged me."

"I'm sorry," the captain replied, sincerely.

The Winchesters watched as the brothers continued a long, overdue face-to-face.

"Your own brother."

"I'm so sorry," the captain repeated.

The brother suddenly lunged at the captain, dissolving into water before he too dissolved the same way. No one else said anything before Sarah spoke, "That was…awesome!"

The brothers looked back, over their shoulders at her.

Sarah looked between them, "What?" she shrugged. "That was better than most visual effects in movies."

Sam looked away, rolling his eyes as Dean looked down at Bela who was still alive. They had done it, Bela was safe.

Dean wanted to go as quickly as possible though, to get his daughter out of the cold before the flu came back. As soon as the three of them got back to the abandoned house, he had Sarah go and change out of her wet clothes.

The next day, the Winchesters packed up to move on. While packing, Bela walked inside the door without knocking.

"You three should learn to lock your doors," she told them. "Anyone could just barge in."

Sam was packing his laptop into his bag. "Anyone just did. You come to say good-bye or thank you?"

Bela went into her purse, "I've come to settle affairs." She pulled out a handful of cash. "Giving the spirit what he wanted, his own brother. Very clever, Sam." Bela tossed one thing of cash at Sam. "So here," and threw two more over at Dean and Sarah. "It's ten thousand. That should cover it."

The three of them stared at the money in their hands then looked up at her.

"I don't like being in anyone's debt," Bela shook her head.

"You weren't in our debt," Sarah told her. "A simple thank-you would have sufficed."

Dean was shaking his head. He agreed with his daughter. "You're so damaged," he told Bela.

Bela grinned at him, "Takes one to know one."

He looked back up at her.

"Good bye, lads." Bela turned and left the house.

Sarah stared at the money again. A simple thank-you would have been nice but she wasn't about to complain. "Hey, maybe now I can replace my PSP," she said, hopeful until her father yanked it out of her hands. "Hey!"

"Yours is going right into your college fund," he told her. With the majority of the money from the scratchers she won, Dean opened a savings account for his daughter so she could go to college one day, keeping enough for her shoes and living expenses for a few months.

"Aw, come on. Why can't I keep at least some of it?" she tried to object.

"You will thank me one day, Baby Girl." Dean wrapped his arm around her head and reached down to kiss the top of it before walking around his brother.

"She got style," said Sam, "you gotta give her that."

Dean shrugged, staring down at the money again.

"You know, Dean, we don't even know where this money's been."

Dean smirked at him and yanked Sam's money out of his hand, "No. But I know where it's going." He slapped Sam, playfully on the shoulder as Dean walked back around him, laughing. They finished packing and were back on the road by nightfall.

Sam was looking at a roadmap, using a flashlight. "Seriously? Los Angles?"

"Hell, yeah," Dean replied. "What better way to spend some time with my little girl then at Six Flags Magic Mountain? I saw it on TV the other night and thought it'd be fun for the three of us." He then thought about the last few nights. Though, Dean would never admit it, that praying did help him a little. He wasn't giving credit but he did come to realize that both his brother and daughter were strong and independent. "Hey, listen."

Sarah was making her Yoshi figurine hop along the back of the front seat. "Who are you, Navi the fairy?" she asked, teasingly and imitated the fairy from the _Zelda_ game. "Hey! Listen! Look! Listen!"

"I'm serious, Baby Girl," he told her. "I've been doing some thinking, um…I understand how much you two want to help me out of this deal. If situations were reversed, I guess I'd be doing the same thing. I mean, I'm not blind. I see what you're both going through with this whole thing. Me going away and all that."

Sam stared forward, annoyed while Sarah stared at the Yoshi figurine in her hand.

"And I know how much you look up to me, Baby Girl but you both are going to be okay," he finished.

Sam looked at his brother out of the corner of his eye and scoffed, "You think so?"

"Yeah, like I told Sarah. Quit hunting, go back to school, both of you," he quickly added to Sam. "Give Sarah the life you argued with me in the beginning I should have given her. Just live your lives. You're both stronger than me. You are. You are. You'll get over it."

Sam cleared his throat.

"But I want you to know," Dean glanced at his daughter and brother before looking at the road, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for putting you through all this, I am."

Sarah scooted back, into the backseat and grabbed her monkey from beside her, hugging it to her.

"You know what, Dean?" Sam blurted out. "Go screw yourself."

Dean looked over at his brother. "What?" he asked confused.

"I don't know about Sarah, but I don't want an apology from you." Sam looked ahead for a second before looking back at Dean, "I know how broken up you are over this."

Dean asked him, "Really?"

"I heard you the other day, Dean. I heard how broken up you are over leaving your daughter. How can you be this broken up and not want to do anything to get out of it?"

"Last I checked, none of us has found a way out of my deal, Sam," Dean reminded his brother.

"Yes we have, you just don't want to try," Sam pointed out.

"You're talking about trusting a demon which there is no possible way anything good could come from that."

Sam stared at his brother. "Fine, but we will find a way, Dean."

Dean just shrugged. Truth was, he still wanted out of his deal, he just wasn't seeing a way out. He needed to start preparing himself for the worse. Dean stared at the road, not saying a word, trying to hold back the tears.

So that's it?" Sam shrugged. "Nothing else to say from you?"

Dean couldn't open his mouth without fear of breaking down in front of his brother again. The car ride was in complete silence for a while.


	95. Chapter 94- Fresh Blood (part 1)

**Family is Where the Heart is **

Chapter 94

The trip to Six Flags was postponed when the Winchesters learned of a possible vampire nest was discovered. Sam had come across a news article online of murders that sounded very close to vampire attacks and they headed straight there. After gaining enough information, the three of them prepared themselves and went after one of the vampires once they had found the trail. Inside the Impala, Dean's cell phone rang, turning out to be Bela thanking them for saving her, the other day. He hung up afterwards, and headed for a warehouse where they found a guy lying on the ground with his neck bitten, kneeling beside him.

Sarah pulled out a blue bandana from inside her jacket and tied it around the guy's neck as Dean went in search for the vampire, making sure it was pressed against the wound but not too tight it would choke him. After the many hunts she's been on and the wounds her family's received, Sarah had decided to start a collection of bandanas in case there wasn't a first aid kit handy.

Once the guy was taken care of, Sarah and Sam hurried after Dean, catching up to him just when he had stabbed the vampire in the neck with a syringe full of dead man's blood. The two of them walked towards Dean as the vampire fell to the ground, knocked out.

"Cutting it a little close, don't you think?" Sam asked of his brother, looking between him and the limp vampire.

Dean looked down at the vampire. "Ah," he replied, "I was just chumming the water." He shrugged, "Worked, didn't it?" and looked back at the vampire before looking at his arm where he had cut himself to lure her towards him. "Oh."

Sarah sighed to herself and stepped towards her father, pulling out another bandana, a red one, this time and asked for his arm. She then tied it around her father's arm like she had done so with the wounded guy.

The Winchesters got the wounded guy to a hospital in time and took the vampire back to their motel room, moving the mattresses where it blocked the windows before the sun came up and shined through. Right around sunrise, the vampire started to stir, coming around as the brothers stood, hovering over her. Sarah sat over on a chair, playing Tetris on her father's phone which he didn't even know he had. Recently, every time Dean replaces his phone, Sarah feels the need to play around on it while he just uses it to call someone.

When the vampire stirred, Sarah looked up from the game and immediately slid the phone closed, sliding it into her jacket pocket as she stood up and walked over to the vampire. The vampire slowly looked up at Dean and jumped, surprised to see him standing there, jumping a second time when he spoke and started trying to pull against her restraints.

Dean stood up, slowly. "Oh, yeah," he told her. "Sorry, you're not going anywhere."

The vampire seemed confused about the situation.

Sam asked, "Where's your nest?"

She stopped and suddenly looked over at him. "What?"

"Your nest," Dean repeated, forcefully, "Where you and your bloodsucking pals hang out."

The vampire looked back at Dean. "I don't know what're talking about." She sounded really distressed now. "Please," she pleaded with them, "I don't feel good."

Dean turned back at the table, behind him, "Yeah,well. You're gonna feel a hell of a lot worse when we give you another shot of dead man's blood." He held a covered syringe, half full of blood in his fingers, showing it to the vampire.

She shook her head, afraid, "Just let me go."

Sam gave a small laugh, "Yeah, you know we can't do that."

"I'm telling you the truth," the vampire tried to reason with them. "I just…I took something. I'm freaking out, I don't know what's going on."

Sarah had been standing there, between the brothers, studying the vampire. "Hey, maybe she's telling the truth," she looked between her father and uncle.

Sam looked from his niece to the vampire as Dean set the syringe on the table. "You took something?" he questioned the vampire, sitting down on the chair Sarah had been sitting on, moving it closer and leaned forward on his knees to be at her level.

"Yes," she said.

Sam looked back at his niece then over at his brother.

The vampire was breathing in and out, tiredly, "I can't come down." She took a deep breath in through her nose. "I just wanna come down."

Sarah had her hands in her pockets, still watching her. "Trust me, you're not high. No pink elephants are coming through this room."

"Uh, Peanut, that's just when you're drunk, not high." Sam then turned back to the vampire, "What's your name?"

"Lucy," she answered. "Please, just let me go."

"All right, Lucy, how about this? If you tell us what happened…" He paused for a second. "We'll let you go."

The vampire looked at Sarah and Dean, "You will?"

Sarah looked over at her uncle, "We will?" she repeated as Dean looked over at his brother who then gave the vampire a reassuring smile.

The vampire, Lucy shook her head at her lap, "Uh…" she tried to remember what had happened before. "I don't really…Um….It's not that clear." Being the nice person, she was, Sarah told her to take her time. Finally, Lucy started, "I was at Spider."

Sarah questioned, "Spider? What's that?"

"It's a club, on Jefferson," she explained and looked over at Sam, "and there was this guy, he was buying me drinks."

Sam stood up, slowly, not taking his eyes off her. "This guy. What's he look like?"

She sighed, "He was old, like, thirty. He had brown hair, a leather jacket. Deacon or Dixon or something." The vampire looked between the three of them as she spoke. "Said he was a dealer, he had something for me."

Dean stared at Lucy as he walked around, beside her. "Something?" he questioned her.

Lucy stared at the floor, in front of her, "Something new," and shook her head, "better than anything you ever tried." She paused for a second. "He put a few drops in my drink."

"Did you see what it looked like?" Sarah asked as the brothers shared a look between each other and Dean scoffed to himself.

"It was red, kind of thick."

Sarah looked over at her father, who smirked at the floor. Dean nodded at Sam, "Well, genius mood there."

Sam was shaking his head in disbelief and Sarah figured it out what the guy had slipped in Lucy's drink.

"That was vampire blood he dosed you with," Dean told Lucy who looked back at him like he was nuts.

"What?"

"Yeah, you just took a big steaming shot of the nastiest virus out there."

"You're crazy, he gave me roofies or something," she shot at him and quickly turned to Sam, "No. The next thing I know, we're at his place and he says he's gonna get me something to eat, just wait. But I get so hungry."

"So you busted out," said Sam, standing again.

She nodded. "Yeah," Lucy replied, softly.

Sam looked over at his brother, who looked away.

"But it won't wear off," she continued.

Sarah shrugged, "I got news for you, Luc," and shook her head, "This is one trip you're not coming back from."

Lucy stared at the little girl, "What…?"

"Lights too bright?" Dean asked, pacing back to where he was first standing. "Sunshine hurt your skin?"

"Yeah. And smells." Lucy paused before she continued, staring at the floor again. "And I can hear blood pumping."

"Well," Dean shook his head at her, "I hate to tell you this, sweetheart, but your blood's never pumping again."

She looked up and him and shook her head, "Not mine. Yours. I can hear a heart beating from half a block away." Lucy looked at Sarah, "I just want it to stop."

Sarah looked at her, sadly, her heart feeling for the poor girl who didn't seem to deserve something like that. She wished there was a cure for vampire attacks, but nowhere had Sarah read anything on cures or antidotes.

Dean leaned forward, closer to Lucy, "All right, listen, Wavy Gravy." He shook his head, "It's not gonna stop, just like she said," nodding over at Sarah. "You've already killed two people, almost three."

Lucy was breaking down even more, making it even harder on Sarah. "No, I couldn't. I was hallucinating."

"You killed them, all right? We've been following a sloppy trail of corpses and it leads straight to you."

She continued to shake her head at him, "No. No, it wasn't real. It was the drug." Lucy looked over, between Sarah and Sam and pleaded with them.

At that point, Sarah had to turn around and walk away, leaning against a doorframe with her back to them. Sam and Dean looked back at her, knowing how hard it was for Sarah, with her enormous, kind heart. Soon, Sam motioned for his brother to follow and the two of them walked away, as well. Dean hugged his daughter's head to his leg as he walked by which she wrapped her right arm around it.

"That poor girl," Sam was the first to speak, in a soft tone.

Sarah agreed, nodding her head against her father's leg but didn't say anything.

"We don't have a choice," Dean told them.

Sam sighed and stole a look back at Lucy, before looking at his brother again. They looked at each other and Sam shook his head, knowing Dean was right. Sarah knew it too.

Dean told his daughter to stay with Sam and walked back over to Lucy. Sarah switched over to her uncle, who lifted her up, into his arms. She then looked the opposite direction, shutting her eyes tight when Sarah heard Lucy pleading with Dean. Sam saw the decapitation as he and Sarah flinched from the sound and Sarah hid her face in her arms that was wrapped around his neck.

That night, the Winchesters checked out the Spider, splitting up and asking around to gain information on Lucy's dealer. Sarah wasn't having much luck but noticed her father was, except in another way.

Sarah walked over and stood in between the two bar stools, Dean and a pretty, blond girl was talking. "Hey, Dad," she spoke up with an evil grin on her face, "forget me in the car, again?"

The girl looked down at Sarah, shocked to hear a father could just leave a young child in the car, by herself this late at night. Standing up, the girl threw her drink on Dean and stormed away.

Sarah watched her leave, still smiling.

Dean tried to object, saying he wasn't like that but the girl wouldn't listen and turned to look down at his daughter. "I hope you realize, you just made me sound like a bad father," he told her, sternly.

"Yeah, well, you were flirting on the job." Sarah turned and headed over to where Sam was motioning them over.

Dean stood up and quickly followed. "Since when do you care when I flirt on the job?"

Sarah didn't respond.

"You guys get anything?" Sam asked when the two of them reached him.

"Yeah, an alcohol-soaked shower," Dean replied, looking down at his daughter.

Sam raised an eyebrow, "Did I miss something?" He looked between his brother and niece. Sarah was looking everywhere but her father.

"I'm not even sure, myself. I'll let you know when I do. Come on." Sam and Sarah followed Dean outside. They noticed a guy walking into an ally, along with the same girl Dean had been hitting on, across the street that matched Lucy's description and quickly followed after him.

The man, Dixon was just about to give the girl a drop of vampire blood when Dean hurried up and punched him in the face, while Sam and Sarah made sure the girl got away. Dixon got one good punch on Dean and took off at a run. Making sure, Dean was okay first, the Winchesters dashed after him. What they found around a corner was not what they had been expecting. Standing there, in front of them was none other than Gordon Walker, himself.

Sarah halted to a stop, in between the brothers and stared at Gordon. "Oh, shit," she muttered. Gordon walked towards the three of them and raised his gun to start shooting at the Winchesters, who hid behind a blue car. Glass shattered from the car windows, around them as Sarah followed her father and uncle behind a wall, pinning themselves to it.

"All right, run, I'll draw them off," Dean told Sam and Sarah.

"What are you, nuts?" Sarah asked of her father over the sound of bullets. "That sounds like suicide!" But Dean paid no attention to her. Instead, he bolted to his feet and ran right out in the open, in front of Gordon and his friend who both shot at him. Dean climbed over a car, leading them away while Sam and Sarah could escape.

While Gordon and his friend were distracted, Sam and Sarah leaped up, onto another car. Sam had to lift Sarah up to grab onto a red, metal bar at the top of a wall and pulled herself up where Sam could, as well. Once Sam landed on the other side, Sarah lowered herself down, hanging from the bar where he could grab her and set her down on her feet before the two of them took off a run, never looking back until they reached their motel. Neither Sam nor Sarah stopped to catch their breath until they were safely inside and had the door locked.

Sarah leaned on her knees to catch her breath as Sam walked over to the small fridge and grabbed two waters, passing one to her, who gladly accepted it, chugging the water down.

An hour or so had passed and Dean had yet to meet them there. Sam paced the room, occasionally peeking out the window, behind one of the mattresses. He tried to call Dean but sighed when he heard Dean's ringtone come from Sarah's pocket.

"I swear, you're worse than that kid on that one show, with Charlie Sheen," Sam told his niece as he hung up and slid his phone back into his pocket. "What if your dad was in trouble and we couldn't get to him in time because you have it."

Sarah shrugged, innocently, "Dad and I are with each other, the majority of the time so I never think of something like that."

At that moment, Dean walked in the door. Sam and Sarah turned to him, on the spot before Sarah bolted over and hugged his legs as he closed the door behind him.

"There you are," Sam told him, relieved to see his brother alive.

Dean shrugged at him, "Yeah, sorry, I stopped for a slice," as he rubbed his left hand along the back of Sarah's head, hugging it to him.

"Nice move you pulled there, Dean," Sam scolded his brother, "running right at the weapons."

Dean was removing his jacket. "Well, what can I say? I'm a badass." He looked down at Sarah, who was still hugging his legs, "Right, Baby Girl?"

Sarah glared up at him and let go, before kicking her father in the shin. "I call you, a dumbass," she told him.

Dean immediately grabbed his leg as he felt the pain coarse through it. She didn't kick him that hard to do serious damage but it still hurt like hell. "Ow, what was that for?" he demanded.

Sam stood there, almost wanting to punch Dean, himself but didn't move.

He let go of his leg and looked over at Sam. "Well, I guess Gordon's out of jail."

"Uh, yeah, guess so," Sam shrugged. "You know, how the hell he knew where to find us?"

Dean stared in thought for a moment before it finally dawned on him and tried to find his phone in one of his pockets. When he realized it was missing, Dean turned to his daughter. "Can I have my phone?" he asked her, stiffly annoyed.

"How do you automatically assume I took your phone?" she asked, trying to sound offended but Dean only just stared at her, his hand waiting for the phone to be placed in it. "Okay, yeah, you're right. I took it." Sarah reached into her jacket pocket and pulled it out, placing the phone in her father's hand.

"This whole pickpocket thing was cute, at first," he told her with his eyebrows raised, "But the next time you do it, I will spank your ass. You understand me?"

Sarah nodded up at her father, "Yes, sir."

Dean then redialed Bela's number and put it to his ear, mumbling _that bitch_ to himself, meaning Bela. Bela picked up on the first ring. "Hi, Bela."

_"Hello, Dean," _she replied, cheerfully.

"Question for you," he continued as Sam paced around the room again. "You called me yesterday. It wasn't to thank me for saving your ass, was it?"

_"No. Gordon Walker paid me to tell you where you were," _Bela quickly explained, defensively.

"Excuse me?" questioned Dean.

_"Well, he had a gun on me." _Bela gave a small laugh. _"What else was I supposed to do?"_

Dean was heated, by now. "I don't know, maybe pick up the phone and tell us a raging psychopath was dropping by?"

_"I did fully intend to call. I just got a bit sidetracked."_

"He tried to kill us," Dean told her, angrily, his blood pressure rising.

_"I'm sorry," _Bela apologized, calmly. _"I didn't realize it was such a big deal. After all, there are two and a half of you and only one of him."_

Dean tried to remain calm and not lose his temper too much. "There were two of them," he told her.

_"Oh."_

"Bela, if we make it out alive, the first thing I'm gonna do, is what I should have done in the first place, kill you."

_"You're not serious."_

"Listen to my voice and tell me if I'm serious," he said, coldly and hung up.


	96. Chapter 95- Fresh Blood (part 2)

**I tried so hard to get this entire episode out to you guys, Thursday night before I left to go dogsit again. It was three in the morning by the time I finished part three and I was tired by then and I still had to revise them before I uploaded. But on the plus side, there will be a mega upload this time with two episodes (five/six chapters).**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 95

Dean was re-sharpening his hatchet while Sam was restocking his gun. Sarah was also sharpening hers.

"That vampire's still out there, Dean," Sam was saying.

Dean examined his hatchet. "First things first," he replied.

Sam glanced at him for a second before returning to the gun in his hand, "Gordon," was all he said.

Dean looked over at his brother, "About that. When we find him or if he finds us…"

"Yeah?"

He shrugged, "I'm just saying, he's not leaving us a lot of options."

"Yeah, I know. We gotta kill him," Sam told him, bluntly.

Sarah looked up from her hatchet, over at her uncle. Usually he was on her side when it came to killing humans.

"Really," said Dean, taken aback. "Just like that?"

Sam shook his head like it wasn't a big deal.

"I thought you would've been, like: 'No we can't, he's a human, it's wrong,'" Dean tried to do his best Sam impression.

Sam just stared at his brother and shook his head again. "No, I'm done. I mean, Gordon's not gonna stop until we're dead." He paused for a moment. "Or until he is."

"Baby Girl?" Dean turned his attention over to his daughter. "Are you okay with this?"

Sarah continued sharpening her hatchet, not looking up. "Still not a fan of killing other humans but as long as I'm not the one who won't have to kill him, unless he's got me cornered and on the verge of death, I don't care. Let the jackass burn in hell, for all I care." At this point, if they couldn't find a way to save Dean from going to hell, Sarah wouldn't care if Gordon killed her or not. In fact, she might even welcome it but Sarah wasn't about to tell her father that.

Dean watched her for a moment, focused on her work as if he was trying to read her mind until his cell phone rang, snapping him out of his thoughts. Dean answered it, putting it to his ear. He wasn't too happy to see it was Bela. "What?" he exclaimed, harshly.

_"I don't like it when people hold grudges against me. And more to the point, I'd rather you didn't kill me," _she told him. _"So I went ahead and found Gordon's exact location."_

"You're a hundred miles away," said Dean, "How…"

_"Hello. Purveyor of powerful occult objects," _reminded Bela. _"I used a talking board to contact the other side."_

"And?"

_"Warehouse. Two stories, riverfront, neon sign outside."_

"Thanks," he told her, sarcastically.

_"One more thing," _she added. _"The spirit had a message for you. Leave town, run like hell, and whatever you do, don't go after Gordon. For whatever that's worth."_

Dean hung up as he stared forward for a moment before looking over at Sam, and then over at Sarah. He wasn't sure what that meant but it couldn't be something good.

Knowing the exact location made things a whole lot easier but they still had to find the right place, keeping a lookout for a two-story warehouse with a neon sign. Parking a good distance away, the Winchesters cautiously wandered inside the warehouse with their guns raised in front of them, eventually heading down a flight of stairs where Dixon was kneeled on the floor, staring into space. Two women hung from shackles, each missing their heads.

Dean made a signal to the other two towards a knife that was over on a small table and swiftly grabbed it, careful about alerting the vampire. Carefully, the three of them made their way over to Dixon until he spoke, stopping them in their tracks.

"Go ahead. Do it," he told them, not looking back. "Kill me."

Sarah exchanged looks with both her father and uncle, unsure what to do.

Sam looked from his niece to his brother. "What happened here?" he asked Dixon.

Dixon spoke back over his shoulder, "Gordon Walker. I never should have brought a hunter here." He stood up. "Never. I just…" Dixon looked over at the Winchesters who kept their guard up, showing them that he had tears on his face. "I just wanted some kind of revenge. So stupid, exposing him to my family."

Dean stood holding the blade of the knife against the side of his right arm. "Oh, yeah, you're such a family man," he told the vampire, sarcastically.

Sam slowly made his way around Dixon, pointing his gun at the vampire as they watched each other. "You don't understand," Dixon told Dean.

"I don't want to know, you…" Dean said, shaking his head.

Dixon started circling around him, "I was desperate. Have you ever felt desperate?"

Sarah was standing behind her father, staring around him at the vampire. Her gun was pointed straight at Dixon, her heart beating a little fast than a normal rate it normally did in hunts. Sarah listened, letting his words run through his mind. Trying to find a way to save her father from hell was pretty much making her desperate, at this point.

She quickly got her head back in the job when Sarah realized Dean had moved when Dixon continued to circle around, and moved over to stand beside him. Dean stole a glance at her but it didn't last long as Dixon continued.

"I've lost everyone I ever loved. I'm staring down an eternity, alone. Can you think of a worse hell?"

Sarah's palms were starting to get sweaty as she thought about returning to life without her father again, remembering how miserable she was, glowing up without a father. She almost wanted to start crying but held it in, staying strong for the job.

"Well, there's hell," Dean replied, flatly as if it was a stupid question.

Dixon scoffed, looking around, stiffly. "I wasn't thinking. I just…I didn't care anymore." He took a few steps towards Dean, "do you know what's that like?"

Sarah looked over at her father, watching him as he raised the knife higher and his other hand to shield her.

"When you don't give a damn?"

Dean was eyeing the vampire like a hawk.

"It's like…It's like being dead already," Dixon finished. "So just go ahead." Dixon looked him, up and down. "Do it."

Sam had inched over to one of the decapitated girls, checking out what had happened. "Dean," he finally spoke, keeping a watchful eye on Dixon, as well.

Dean looked over his brother while Sarah kept her eye on Dixon.

"Head wasn't cut off," Sam shook his head, eyeing the mess, "it was ripped off. By someone's bare hands."

That got Sarah's attention, looking over at her uncle then back at Dixon. "Please tell me, for the love of God, tell me you didn't…." She shifted on her feet. "You didn't turn Gordon."

Dixon stared down at the ground, making the Winchesters exchange horrid looks between each other. If Gordon was a vampire now, things were gonna be a whole lot harder to take him down.

Dean ended up, doing the deed with killing Dixon, and he and Sam got the girls down to give them a proper burial before heading back to the motel.

The next day, Sarah stirred from her makeshift bed on the floor, lifting her head to gaze around the room, tiredly. Sam was sitting at the table, looking over a map of the city but Dean was nowhere to be found.

Sam noticed his niece awake. "Are you gonna sleep all day?" he asked, smiling over at her.

Sarah turned around to sit up, scratching her stomach underneath her _Legend of Zelda _T-shirt. "Where's Dad?" she asked, groggily still, squinting from the bright light overhead.

"He went to look around to see where Gordon could be hiding in," he told her, leaning on his folded arms as he returned his attention back to the map.

She looked alarmed to hear her father had gone searching for Gordon alone. "Alone?"

Sam glanced up at her, for a second. "He just went to find where he could be. Your dad's not actually hunting him," he assured her.

That didn't ease Sarah's nerves. She knew her father and if he had the chance to kill the guy, Dean would take it. She lied back down for a moment, wiping her hands along her face, praying her father would come walking through that door, unharmed and in one piece.

Fifteen minutes later, Dean did come walking through the door. "Man, I must have checked three dozen motels, empty buildings, warehouses." He removed his jacket and tossed it over on a chair as he headed into the bathroom. "It's like a giant haystack. Gordon's a deadly needle." Dean turned on the faucet and wiped water onto his face before turning it off and reached for a green hand towel. "We're running out of daylight," he said as Dean dried his face. "Without the sun slowing him down…"

Sam was still looking at the map. "Yeah, he'll be unstoppable."

Dean agreed as he walked out of the bathroom, patting his face with the towel still.

"Hey, uh, give me your phone," Sam told him, twisting around in his seat.

Dean sighed, refreshed and removed the towel. "What for?"

"If Gordon knows our cell numbers," explained Sam as he took the back off his own cell phone and removed the battery to remove the memory card, "he can use the cell signal to track us down."

Dean reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, handing it to Sam. "Oh, yeah. Thanks," he said, before walking across the room.

"Yeah," Sam murmured before doing the same to Dean's phone. Once the memory cards were out, Sam placed both phones on the floor and smashed them under his feet as Sarah watched.

"Aw, come on. I had just gotten the highest score on Tetris," she complained.

"You're the only one who's ever played it," Dean reminded her, over by the window.

"The CPU's high score counts too, you know," Sarah folded her arms across her chest.

"Oh, well, excuse me." Dean walked over to his green duffel. "Both of you stay here."

Sam looked over at his brother, confused. "What? Where are you going now?"

He pulled the Colt and a case of bullets out, setting the case on the end table next to his duffel bag, "I'm going after Gordon."

Sarah's eyes widened. "You can't go after him alone, Dad. He's stronger and tougher now, even for you."

"I can handle him, Baby Girl, don't worry," he assured her. "He's after you and Sam, not me and he's turbocharged." Dean was disassembling the Colt. "I want you both to stay out of harm's way. I'll take care of it."

Sam tried to object. "Dean, you're not going by yourself. You're gonna get yourself killed."

He only shrugged at his brother, "Just another day at the office. A massively, dangerous day at the office."

"So, you're the guy with nothing to lose now?" Sam told him, sarcastically. "Oh, let me guess. Because, uh….It's because you're already dead, right?"

"If the shoe fits," said Dean.

Sam started feeling frustrated with his brother again. "You know what, man?" he told Dean. "I'm sick and tired of your stupid kamikaze trip."

"Whoa, whoa," Dean objected, this time. "Kamikaze? I'm more like a ninja."

Sarah was sitting up, on her legs now, sitting like a dog would, leaning on her hands. "He's serious, Dad," she told her father, feeling the same way as her uncle.

Dean smirked over at her, "Come on, it's a little funny."

"No, it's not," said Sam, indeed serious.

Dean stared over at his brother. He set the Colt down, beside him and stood up, walking over to where he had tossed his jacket. "What do you want me to do, Sam, huh? Sit around all day, writing sad poetry about how I'm gonna die? You know what? I've got one." He placed it over his arm. "See, what rhymes with, 'shut up, Sam?'"

Sarah glared over at her father. Had he really given up all ready?

"Dude, drop the attitude, Dean. Quit turning everything into a punch line." Sam shifted on his feet. "And you know what else? Stop acting like you're not afraid."

"Dad's not afraid of anything, Uncle Sam," Sarah tried to defend her father, that time.

Sam shook his head over at his niece. "Yes, he is and he may as well drop it, 'cause I can see right through him."

Dean looked away, smiling. "You got no idea what you're talking about," he said before Dean walked around his brother.

He turned right around to face Dean, "Yeah, I do. You're scared, Dean."

Dean turned around from where he was standing at the end table again.

"You're scared because your year is running out and you're still going to hell and you're freaked."

"And how do you know that?" he asked, turning halfway around.

"Because I know you," Sam raised his voice.

"Really?"

"Yeah, because I've been following you around my entire life. I mean, I've been looking up to you, like Sarah, since I was four, Dean. Studying you, trying to be just like my big brother. So yeah, I know you. Better than anyone else in the entire world. And this exactly how you act when you're terrified. And, I mean, I can't blame you. It's just…." He shook his head and looked away, trying to hold it all in.

Dean looked up at his brother, "What?"

Sam looked back and stared at him for a moment before he said, "It's just I wish you would drop the show and be my brother again. Cuz…." He sucked on his lip. "Just cuz."

Dean looked away again, at the ground, rubbing the right side of his face. "All right," he gave in. "We'll hole up. Cover our scent so he can't track us." Dean slowly looked up at Sam, "Wait the night out here."


	97. Chapter 96- Fresh Blood (part 3)

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 96

The Winchesters went out to pick up a few supplies and stopped at a phone store to purchase new phones again. While Sam walked around the store, Dean talked to the store associate, asking for a basic cell phone.

"Don't forget about Tetris, Dad," Sarah said from beside him.

Dean shook his head at the man behind the counter, "That's not really important, I just need a regular phone I can call people on," he explained.

The sale associate pointed him towards a LG 8700 cell phone which Dean liked and as a bonus, had Tetris so Sarah was happy too. Activating them, right there in there store, Dean and Sam paid for their phones and left the store.

Sarah hurried to walk right beside her father. "Can I play around on this one too, Dad?" she asked him, hopeful as Sarah tried to give Dean a puppy dog look.

Dean's heart always melted when Sarah gave him that look and this time was no different. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his new phone. "I swear, you and Sam are definitely related, kid."

Happily, Sarah took the cell phone and on the way back to the motel, Sarah played around on it, learning all the new features. By the time they got there, Sarah was pretty much an expert and when everything was settled, waiting for nightfall to come, Sarah taught her father.

She showed him the camera feature, taking one of them both together as Sarah sat on his lap, on the chair he was sitting on and showed him how to make it the background picture so when Dean first opens his phone, he can see him and his little girl each time.

Time passed. Just as the sun was pretty much down but still light outside, Sarah laid over Dean's lap, on her stomach, playing Tetris again. Dean, bored himself, was running the blade of his hatchet along his arm hairs when his cell phone started to ring, interrupting Sarah's game.

Sarah pushed herself up to lean her left hand on his leg to hand him the phone as Sam turned around from the window.

"You've had that phone two hours, Dean," said Sam. "Who'd you give the number to?"

"Nobody," he answered, looking at the screen before he pressed talk and put it to his ear. Sam grabbed his chair and yanked it over to sit beside his brother as Sarah shifted around to sit on Dean's left leg. "Hello?"

_"Dean."_ It was Gordon.

Dean winked at Sarah and Sam. "How'd you get this number?" he asked of Gordon.

_"Scent's all over the cell phone store," _he replied. _"'Course I can't smell you now. Where are you?"_

"Well, guess you'll have to find us, won't you?" Dean smiled at the floor, leaning on his right elbow.

_"Nah, I'd rather you come to me."_

"What's the matter, Gord-o? You're not afraid of us, are you? We're just sitting here. Bring it on."

_"I don't think so." _There was a short pause and a terrified-sounding young woman came on the phone, pleading for help.

Dean frowned.

Sarah sensed something was wrong. "What's wrong, Dad?" she asked, worried.

Gordon came back on the phone. _"Factory on Riverside off of the turnpike. Be here in twenty minutes or the girl dies."_

Dean tried to reason with him, "Gordon, let the girl go," which got Sarah and Sam's attention. Sarah quickly twisted around to look at her uncle before twisting back around.

_"Bye, Dean."_

"Gordon…don't do this. You don't kill innocent people, you're still a hunter."

_"No. I'm a monster." _After that, the line went dead.

Dean closed his phone and pushed his daughter off his lap. "We gotta go, now," he told them.

Sarah asked, "What's going on, Dad?"

"Gordon's using a girl as bait, we gotta go. Move it." They quickly grabbed their stuff and slid into to the Impala. Dean drove at record speed, pulling up to the factory in no time. With their weapons in hand, the Winchesters hurried inside and wandered around, keeping an eye out for the girl or Gordon.

When they found her, Sam quickly untied her as Dean and Sarah kept watch. Both brothers helped the girl up which Dean ended up carrying her. Even though Dean told Sam and Sarah to stay close, the three of them ended up getting separated by a large, metal door that fell down from the top of the walk way. Dean was trapped on one side with the girl while the other two were trapped on the other side. The three of them each pounded on the door, yelling for each other until they stopped.

When Sam took a step back, the lights went off, making him and Sarah take out their hatchets. "Stay close, Peanut," he told his niece.

Sarah also took out her flashlight, turning it on. "Neither you or Dad, come prepared, do you?" she asked of Sam. Suddenly, the flashlight flickered before the battery completely died.

"Uh, what was that about coming prepared?" Sam asked.

Sarah glared at him through the dark, even though she could only see his outline. They trudged through darkness as Sam swiped his hand through the air. Sarah followed, closely behind, holding her hatchet, ready for what came at her. She had to admit, it was kind of ironic, seeing Gordon become the thing he violently hunted and kind of made things easy for her. Sarah was a hunter of monsters, things that weren't human, so Gordon wasn't really considered human now, was he? So Sarah had no problem chopping his head off, if she got the chance to.

Sam called out to Gordon. They jumped when they heard him from behind, turning on their heels to face where they thought he was. Gordon wasn't there anymore but the two of them could hear him laugh, evilly, making the hairs on the back of Sarah's neck, stand up.

"What's the matter?" he called.

"So this is the way you really want to do it, huh?" Sam called back.

"Damn right, I do." None of them knew it, but Gordon was watching them as Sam and Sarah continued around the dark factory, feeling around so they wouldn't run into anything.

Sarah's heart was beating fast with each step she took. Her right hand gripped the handle of the hatchet as she turned a corner. "Uncle Sammy, you still there?" she whispered, softly.

There was no answer.

"Uncle Sammy?" she asked, a little louder, this time as she looked around her. She tried so hard to see through the darkness but she just wasn't a cat. Sarah swallowed, "Uncle Sammy?" she repeated a third time, even louder than the second.

"What's the matter, Sarah? I thought you were a hunter like your dad?" she heard Gordon call out to her.

Sarah also heard her uncle yell out and tried to follow the sound of his voice. "Leave her alone, Gordon," Sam warned him.

Gordon just laughed again. "You have no idea what I faced to get here," he told them. "I lost everything. My life. But it's worth it. Because I'm finally gonna kill the most dangerous things I've ever hunted."

"What? Yourself?" Sarah finally called back, bravely as she continued walking, her left hand out, in front of her. "Shouldn't put yourself down like that. It's not good for the self-esteem."

"You think you're so funny, Sarah."

"I think I'm adorable," she grinned, definitely just like her father.

"I can tell you what you're not. Human."

"Look who's talking," Sam joined into the conversation and swung his hatchet when he caught sight of Gordon, but missed.

Gordon agreed, "You're right. I'm a bloodthirsty killer."

Sam kept his guard up, scanning around himself, "Don't talk like you don't have a choice."

"I don't."

"Yes, you do, Gordon," Sarah argued with the man.

"You didn't kill that girl," Sam added.

"No, I didn't," he admitted. "I did something much, much worse."

Sarah perked up, realizing what Gordon meant by that. "No," she whispered. "Dad!" She took off, at a run in some random direction, hoping it was back where the three of them were split up. She was ambushed though.

Gordon held her up, by her neck, against a large crate. "I gotta hand it to you, Sarah. You and your uncle have a lot of people fooled."

Sarah struggled, gasping for air as his fingers gripped her neck tighter, his fingernails digging into her fresh. She had dropped her hatchet when she was ambushed. Sarah tried to reach into her jacket for her gun but Gordon reached in and grabbed it, himself and removed the bullets with one hand before tossing it away.

"I met your other family, by the way. Before you sent me to jail. Nice bunch of people, there. Well, your grandparents, anyway. Hard to believe how godly they were and were related to you."

Sarah tried to claw at his arm. "I'm…not…a-a…mon…ster….Gor…don. I…swear," she gasped in between each word. She tried swinging her legs to kick him but Gordon pinned both of her legs with his right knee.

"I told them what you really were and they didn't believe it. Then I started talking about how your dad is training you to be a hunter. I told them everything I could find out, myself."

She stared at Gordon, her eyes wide from a combination of shock and the fact she couldn't breathe. If this was true and Gordon really did talk to her grandparents, then why didn't Mark ask about it when she had called him? That had to have been almost a year ago now. Sarah couldn't really think on it for too long before everything around her was starting to get even darker.

Suddenly, Sam had finally come up behind Gordon, his hatchet raised and sliced into Gordon's neck like it was butter. The head flew off, five feet away as the body fell to its knees, releasing Sarah who also fell to the floor, breathing hard.

Sam yanked the body out of the way and kneeled beside his niece. "You okay, Peanut?" he asked, worried out of his mind as Sam lifted her into his arms.

Sarah coughed as she continued to try and push air into her lungs. Finally, she was able to muster, "I'm…o…kay…Un…cle…Sam."

He hugged his niece to him, carefully and stood up, lifting Sarah up, into his arms to look for Dean, another hunt over. Once they found Dean, they got out of there, heading back to the motel for a few hours' sleep. Sarah fell asleep once she had enough air back in her lungs, sleeping all night.

The next morning, on the side of the road, she helped her father under the hood while Sam sat on a cooler and drank a beer, passing Dean one. "Figure out what's making that rattle?" he asked.

"Not yet," replied Dean. "Give me a box wrench, would you?"

Sam looked back at Dean before reaching over to grab the tool his brother needed, passing it over to him.

Dean reached the wrench to where he needed to use it but paused. He looked at Sarah. "Everything okay, Dad?" she asked him. Dean looked over at his brother next and stood up.

"Sam," he told his brother.

Sam looked back at him again. "Wrong one?" he asked.

"No, no, no," Dean assured. "Come here for a second."

Sam stood up and walked closer, "Yeah."

"This rattle could be a couple things," he began. "Sarah and I are thinking it's an out of tune carb."

"Okay." Sam didn't know why his brother was telling him this and was a bit confused.

Dean cleared his throat and leaned over again. "All right, see this thing?" he asked, pointing towards a valve cover. "It's a valve cover. Inside are all the parts that are on the head." He nodded over to the tools, "Hand me that socket wrench."

Sam reached down to his left and picked up the tool Dean wanted, handing it to him.

"All right, you with me so far?"

He pointed at the valve cover, "Uh, yeah, valve cover covers the heads."

"Very good," nodded Dean. "Now, this is your intake manifold, okay? On top of it…" He stopped to let his brother try and guess.

"It's a…."

Sarah wanted to say it but Dean hushed her, telling her to let Sam try.

"A carburetor?" he guessed.

"Carburetor," Dean repeated, proudly and looked forward. "Very good." He then stood up, straight again.

Sam asked, curious, "What's with the auto shop?"

Dean turned the socket wrench once and held it out to his brother.

"What? You don't mean you want…?

"Yeah, I do. You fix it."

"Dad, are you sure that's such a good idea? Uncle Sam knows nothing about cars," Sarah told her father.

"Besides, you barely even let me drive this thing," Sam added.

"Sarah can't always reach everything, under here and you're gonna have to know these things for the future to help her."

Sam took the socket wrench from him, staring at Dean, amazed.

"Besides, just because I have a kid of my own, doesn't mean it's not my job anymore to show my little brother the ropes." Dean smiled at him before walking over to take his brother's place on the cooler as Sam took over.

"Seriously, Uncle Sam?" Sarah asked as she watched her uncle. "Is that the best you can do? Put some more elbow into it. You look like Gram, trying to fix a car."

"Sarah, take it easy on the guy. It's only his first time," Dean called over to his daughter.

Sarah kept quiet and let Sam continue, but it doesn't mean she stopped watching him. She intended on giving her uncle an evaluation when he was done. Dean sat there, sipping on his beer as he watched his brother and daughter work on his car, soon to be their car. He had to make sure the Impala would be well taken care of after he was gone.


	98. Chapter 97-A Very Supernatural Xmas(p1)

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 97

Dean walked up and down the aisles of the gas mart, down the street from the motel they were staying in, picking up beer and food while Sam was researching what could have pulled a man up a chimney. Sarah was standing at the magazine rack, looking through a classic cars magazine when he walked up, carrying a shopping basket.

He looked over her shoulder of the car Sarah was reading an article about and whistled. "Nice car there, huh?" he said.

Sarah jumped at the sound of Dean's voice. She had been so involved with reading the article, Sarah hadn't heard her father walk up to her. "Yeah, it is a nice car but I think the Impala is better." She set the magazine back on the rack as they started walking towards the cashier.

It was quiet for a moment. Dean set the basket on the counter so the middle aged man standing at the register could ring the stuff up and noticed the candy canes on display there. Since he picked up Sarah from her grandparents, they had never done Christmas and Sarah never brought it up either. Dean wasn't sure why or if Sarah even cared for the holiday. If it wasn't for the fact that it was his last year, he wouldn't even worry about it but this year, Dean wanted to do Christmas, just like when he and Sam were kids.

Sarah stood beside him, staring at the floor with her hands in her jacket pockets as she waited for their groceries to be rung up. Dean watched her until the cashier announced the total amount and Dean handed him a twenty and was handed back his change, putting it into his wallet, which he shoved into his back pocket.

As they were leaving, Dean finally spoke. "Hey, what do you say we do Christmas, this year?" he suggested, carrying the stuffed paper bag. "We can find a tree somewhere…"

"I didn't know you celebrated Christmas," Sarah shrugged, looking up at him before pushing the door open as it made that ringing sound and held it open for her father. "We didn't have it, the last couple years I've been around."

"Well, this year's gonna be different. We can get some Boston Market too and exchange gifts. How about it?"

Sarah had her hands back in her pockets as she stared at the ground. "I don't know," she finally shrugged. "Sure, if you want. Mom and I usually went over to Gram and Papa's for Christmas dinner but we never really put up a tree, ourselves."

"Did your mom ever give you any gifts?" Dean asked, curious.

"If you call gift cards a gift then yes." Sarah walked around the Impala and stepped off the sidewalk, heading towards her side. "She gave up, trying to buy me clothes I would never wear, or toys I never would play with. And she refused to give in and buy me things she considered for a boy, herself. If I wanted that stuff, I had to go and buy it myself."

Both of them slipped into the Impala. Dean had placed the bag on the floor, behind his seat. "What about your grandparents?"

"They didn't like it either but they didn't want to spend money on something I wouldn't use, so they gave me what I would use or wear, hoping I'd grow out of it someday. I remember one Christmas Mom yelling and arguing with them about the gifts they gave me. That they shouldn't be giving in like this. Papa reminded her that she was just doing the same thing with the gift card and Mom stormed out of the kitchen, grabbed me and went home. The whole ride home, I remember Mom lecturing me about that whole philosophy of hers, I told you before."

Dean was driving back to the motel, by now. "Well, this Christmas will be different, I promise. It'll be the best one you ever had. So what do you say?" he smiled over at her.

Sarah looked over at her father. It seemed really important to him to do this but there was one important factor here. Though it might be the best Christmas she'd have, it would be the only one with her father. She stared down at the seat, between them for moment before she finally agreed, "Okay, sure. Why not." If it made her father happy then she would do it.

Dean pulled into the parking lot, not long afterwards and parked in front of their motel room, heading inside where Sam was exactly where they had left him, hovering over his laptop.

"So was I right?" Dean asked, shutting the door behind him as Sarah wandered over to stand beside her uncle, curious. "Is it the serial killing chimney sweep?"

"Yup," he replied, staring at his laptop, "it's, uh, actually Dick Van Dyke."

"Who's that?" Sarah asked her uncle.

Dean also looked at Sam, confused.

Sam looked between his brother and niece, "_Mary Poppins_?"

"Who's that?" he asked, this time.

"Oh, come on… Sarah…" But Sarah had no clue either. "Never mind," he told them, waving them off with his hand.

Dean scratched the back of his head. "Well, it turns out the Walshes were the second family in town, grabbed out of their house, this month," he explained what he and Sarah had found out as Dean walked behind the couch Sam was sitting on.

Sam leaned back, following his brother with his eyes, "Oh yeah? Did they get dragged up the chimney too?"

"Sarah checked the fireplace while I talked to the witnesses."

"It seems like it, though," Sarah spoke up. "Found traces of blood around it."

"So what the hell do you think we're dealing with, Sam?" Dean asked as he removed his jacket.

"Actually, I have an idea," he replied.

"Yeah?"

"And, uh, it's gonna sound crazy."

"How many times are we gonna go over that our whole job is supposed to be crazy?" Sarah pointed out to him.

"It shouldn't be crazy for you, Peanut," he told her.

"And why's that?" she asked, sitting next to him.

"An evil version of Santa Claus."

Her left eyebrow rose at that. "Evil version of Santa Claus?" she questioned.

Sam nodded.

"Uncle Sam, monsters may exist but I know for a fact Santa Claus doesn't."

Sam looked over at his brother, at that.

Dean shrugged, confused why he was getting glared at like he had done something wrong. "What?" he asked.

"You told Sarah, Santa wasn't real, didn't you?" he asked of him.

"No."

"I knew since I was five, Uncle Sam. I know there is no way a fat old guy cannot fly around in a fifteen-ton sleigh, pulled by eight reindeer, around the world, in one night. That is impossible. And the whole, "watch you when you're sleeping" thing, by the way, sounds like something a stalker would do, not someone who gives toys to kids."

Sam was staring at his niece in shock and amazement. "Peanut, did you have any childhood innocence, like a normal kid?"

"Toys and video games count?" she asked.

"Sure," he shrugged.

"Then yes."

"So who do you think left all those presents under the tree?" Sam asked of his niece.

"Gram, Papa, Mark, my other cousins, Uncle Vinny who always smelled like the bus, Aunt Laura and her husband, Frank," she started listing off family members of the Holden family until Sam cut her off.

"Okay, I get it," he said, looking at his laptop again. "Anyway, there are actually versions of the Anti-Claus in every culture." Sam picked up some pictures he had lying beside it, on the coffee table and passed half back to Dean and the other half to Sarah, "You got Belsnickel, Krampus, Black Peter. Whatever you want to call it, there's all sorts of lore."

Dean looked through them, "Saying what?"

"Saying, back in the day, Santa's brother went rogue, and now he shows up around Christmas time. But instead of bringing presents, he punishes the wicked."

"By hauling their ass up chimneys?" he asked, pacing around the room.

"For starters, yeah," Sam replied.

"So this is your theory, huh? Santa's shady brother?"

"Well, I…just saying, that's what the lore says."

"Santa doesn't have a brother. Like Sarah just got done saying, there is no Santa," Dean reminded his brother.

"Yeah, I know," said Sam. "You're the one who told me that in the first place, remember?" He then looked back at his laptop and sighed. "You know what, I could be wrong. I…" Sam sighed again and slammed it shut. "I gotta be wrong."

Sarah felt badly for her uncle's theory being shot down. "Remember that hunt with the fairy tales? You were right about that. Maybe Dad and I are wrong about Evil Santa and you're right about this, too," she tried to cheer him up.

Sam looked over at his niece and put his left arm around her, hugging Sarah to him.

"Maybe, maybe not," Dean spoke up and walked back over to them.

"What?" Sam looked back up at his brother.

"We did a little digging," he explained. "Turns out both victims visited the same place, right before they got snatched."

"Where?" he asked as Sarah moaned.

The Winchesters took a visit over to Santa's Village where people were dressed up like reindeer and elves. Sarah remembered being dragged to a place similar with her little cousin's family, and having to stand next to a fake Santa that smelled like drugs and vodka while her cousin sat on his lap for a photo.

"It does kind of lend credence to the theory, don't it?" Dean was saying as they walked through the village.

"Yeah, but Anti-Claus," Sam questioned and scoffed. "Couldn't be."

"You're the one who brought it up, in the first place," Sarah reminded him. "If Dad and I hadn't of said anything, you'd still believe it."

"Yeah, it's a Christmas miracle," said Dean. "Speaking of Christmas, I was telling Sarah how we should have one this year."

Sam was looking off, into the distance. "Have one what?"

"A Christmas," he replied.

Sam gave a small laugh, "No thanks."

"No, we'll get a tree, a little Boston Market, just like when we were little," Dean smiled.

"Dean, those weren't exactly Hallmark memories for me, you know?"

"What are you talking about? We had some great Christmases."

"Whose childhood are you talking about?"

Dean stopped walking to turn and look at his brother, "Aw, come on, Sam."

"No, just," Sam shook his head. "No."

"All right, Grinch." Dean turned and started walking again, leaving his brother standing there.

Sarah started to follow her father, curious why her uncle didn't enjoy Christmas. She looked around at all the decorations and elf costumes, remembering the last Christmas she spent with her mother.

December 24th, 2004

Sarah sat, slumped on the couch as the live action _How the Grinch Stole Christmas _played on the TV. Her empty bowl that held her mac and cheese dinner sat on the edge of the coffee table, along with a half drank glass of chocolate milk and an opened snack bag of Doritos. Sarah sat up long enough to grab the bag of chips as she continued watching the movie, munching on them.

The front door of their apartment opened and Emily walked in. "Hey, honey," she noticed her daughter on the couch. "How was school?"

Sarah sighed. "I didn't go to school, Mom. Remember?" I'm on Christmas break." She stood up, onto her legs, turning to lean on the back of the couch. "Speaking of Christmas, it's Christmas eve, Mom. Where were you? You said we were finally gonna get our own tree, this year and decorate it tonight."

Emily lifted her bag off her shoulders and placed it on the dining room table, beside the door. "My boss had me work another shift tonight at the bowling alley, honey. You know I had to work today."

"But it's Christmas eve, Mom and you promised."

"Honey, unless you want to spend Christmas out on the streets, I have to accept every shift I can. Okay?" Emily then walked into the kitchen.

"I bet Dad would have kept his promise if he said he would," Sarah called after her mother.

Emily sighed, tired and frustrated. "Sarah Lynn, that's enough. I have had a long day and I do not want to argue, tonight. Papa and Gram have a beautiful tree up at their house and tomorrow when I get off work, we will go over there and have Christmas dinner. Okay?"

Sarah's eyes widened when her mother said she was working again, the next day. "You're working on Christmas day? Mom, how can you work on our Savior's birthday? On a day our family is supposed to be together?"

"A lot of people work on Christmas, Sarah and if you want a roof over your head and food on the table, I have to, as well."

"No, you just don't want to be around me," Sarah spat at her mother.

"Sarah, you know that's not true."

Sarah climbed up, onto the arm of the couch, on her left leg. "Bull shit, it's not!"

Emily slammed the fridge shut, staring at her daughter. "Go to bed," she told her, sternly. "Turn off the TV and go to bed, now."

Sarah stared back at her mother until she slid off the couch and grabbed the remote off the coffee table. She then turned the TV off and stormed down the hall to her bedroom. "I still wish I lived with Dad!" she yelled back before slamming her door shut and jumped onto her bed. Sarah cried into her pillow. Not long after that, her door opened but didn't bother to lift her head. Sarah knew who it was.

"You can expect Papa's belt tomorrow evening when we go over there, Sarah Lynn," Emily told her.

"Leave me alone," Sarah pouted into her pillow.

Emily sighed, "For once I would like to come home without the two of us fighting. Can I have at least one Christmas miracle, Sarah?"

Sarah didn't respond to her mother. After her mother shut off her light, she closed the door, leaving Sarah to her own thoughts as she continued to cry into her pillow. "God, all I want for Christmas is my dad. That's all I want, is for my dad to walk right through that door and lift me into his arms and tell me that he loves me. Is that even possible?" She remembered crying herself to sleep that Christmas eve and waking up to an empty apartment, spending most of Christmas day, cleaning it up.

Present day, Sarah snapped out of her thoughts to Dean snapping his fingers and waving his hand in front of her face. "Huh?" she asked.

"You okay, Baby Girl?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sarah assured her father as a young woman dressed in an elf costume walked up.

"Welcome to Santa's Court," she greeted the Winchesters. "Can I escort your child to Santa?"

"Uh, no thanks," Sarah told her, "I'll pass. Have to say though he looks cleaner than the last one I met."

"But my brother here," Dean slapped his hand, playfully onto Sam's left shoulder, "It's been a lifelong dream of his."

The woman stared at Sam, "Uh, sorry. No kids over twelve?"

"No, he's just kidding," Sam assured her, shaking his head. "We only came here to watch."

She looked back at Dean, who shook his head. "Ew," she told Sam, disgusted as she walked away.

"Aw," Sam tried to assure her some more, "I didn't mean that we came here to… Y… " He then turned to his brother, annoyed. "Thanks a lot, Dean. "Thanks for that."

Dean just chuckled at his brother's predicament which Sarah couldn't help snicker either.

"We love you, Uncle Sammy," Sarah smiled up at her uncle.

Sam looked away, "Yeah, I bet you do," he smiled.

"Hey, check it out." Dean pointed out at the Santa as he was coming their way, passed them. The Santa was walking with a limp, just like the lore said. "Are you seeing this?"

"You try sitting in a chair for a long time and see how you can walk, afterwards," Sarah told him, remembering when Dean had her sit while he rescued the rabbit's foot.

"Tell me, you didn't smell that?" he told her, seriously. "That was candy, man."

"That was ripple. I think," said Sam and leaned around to look over at Santa. "Had to be."

Dean shrugged and looked back. "Maybe. We willing to take that chance?"

Sam chewed on his lip as he and Sarah continued to watch Santa, thinking it over.


	99. Chapter 98-A Very Supernatural Xmas(p2)

**Last one I wrote over the weekend should be up in a few minutes...**

**Family is Where the heart is**

Chapter 98

That night, the Winchesters staked out Santa's trailer, watching for anything suspicious while trying to stay awake. The brothers eventually ran out of coffee and caffeinated sodas never really had any effect on Sarah. So Sarah had her head on her folded arms, on the back of the front seat, her eyelids starting to feel heavy, the empty soda bottle on the seat behind her. She tried her best to keep them open as she watched Santa through the window.

Things were quiet until Dean broke it. "Hey, Sam."

Sam looked over at his brother, "Yeah?"

"Why are you the boy who hates Christmas?" he asked.

"Dean," Sam rolled his head forward.

"I mean, I'd admit. We had a few bumpy holidays when we were kids."

"Bumpy?" Sam repeated over to him.

"But that was then," he told Sam. "We'll do it right, this year. Just like we've done for Sarah's birthday."

"Look, Dean, if you and Sarah wanna have Christmas, knock yourself out. Just don't involve me," Sam shook his head.

"But it wouldn't be Christmas without the whole family together," Sarah yawned from her arms.

Sam forced a smile for his niece before looking at the trailer again, just as Santa was shutting his curtains.

Dean asked, "What's up with Saint Nicotine?"

Suddenly, they heard a woman scream which woke Sarah up, fully as if she had a full night's rest. The three of them jumped from the car and hurried up to the trailer, getting out their guns. Dean opened the door and they charged right in, stopping right in their tracks when they saw the TV on and Santa sitting on his couch with a large bong.

Santa demanded as they quickly hid their guns, "The hell you doing here?" He had dropped the bong and was just holding a bottle of whiskey.

The Winchesters tried to think of a logical explanation, quickly before Dean busted out, singing, _Silent Night_, and Sam and Sarah joined in. Santa joined in as he sat back down. At one point, Sarah ended up the only one, singing the words, correctly as the three of them back out of the house.

"Well, that was embarrassing," Sarah stated as they walked back to the Impala.

"Shut up, Sarah," Dean teased her. "Well, it's not him."

"Guess we have to keep looking," said Sam.

Dean and Sarah agreed.

The next day, they caught wind of another attack that happened and spoke with the victim's wife, who explained that she was knocked out and her young son saw it drag her husband up the chimney. During the visit, Sam asked the woman about where she had gotten her wreath above the fireplace. Sarah found it odd that her uncle was asking about a wreath at a time like this, especially since Sam didn't want anything to do with Christmas. On the way out, Sam reminded her that they had seen that wreath before at the Walsh's house and Sarah remembered seeing one at the other family's house, as well.

Heading back to the motel, the Winchesters did some more research. Sam called Bobby to see if he knew anything while Sarah looked through her books.

Sam hung up with Bobby once they were done. "Well," he said, walking over to the table Sarah was sitting at, by the window. "We're not dealing with the Anti-Claus."

"What Bobby say?" asked Dean from the couch.

"Uh, that we're morons."

"For the record, I never said I thought it was the Anti-Claus. I just said that, yesterday to cheer you up," Sarah objected to Bobby's comment.

"Yeah, right," Dean teased his daughter. "You know you wanted it to be true. If there's such thing as an Anti-Claus, then there must be a Santa Claus, am I right?"

"Oh yeah, because I want nothing more than to prove Santa Claus' existence. Anyway, what does he think it is?" Sarah turned back to her uncle.

"That it was probably meadowsweet in those wreaths. Have you come across anything like that in that one book of yours, on pagan lore?" he replied.

Sarah thought about if she had ever read about it and quickly pulled the pagan mythology book on top so she could start scanning through it.

Dean asked, "What the hell is meadowsweet?"

"It's pretty rare and it's the most powerful plant in pagan lore," Sam explained.

"Pagan lore?" he questioned.

"Found it!" Sarah announced and read what the page said. "Meadowsweet, a plant used in human sacrifices, luring gods so they could feast on whoever was left there."

Dean stood up from his seat and walked over to the small kitchen area, "Why would somebody be using that for Christmas wreaths?"

"It's not so crazy as it sounds, Dean," said Sam, looking at his laptop. "Pretty much every Christmas tradition is pagan."

Sarah looked up from her book. "Uh, no. Christmas is the day we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Hence the name, Christ-mas," she told him.

"No, the name was just a coincidence. Jesus' birth was probably in the fall," he corrected her. "It was actually the winter solstice festival that was co-opted by the church and renamed Christmas."

Sarah folded her arms, staring over at her uncle. "Yeah, I know. I do have a book about pagans, remember? And besides, religions always seem to argue against each other so I didn't really think much of it. There are different theories of Christmas and I believe the Christian part where," she rose up, onto her knees towards her uncle, "December twenty-fifth is Jesus' birthday."

Dean went over and shoved his daughter back down by her shoulder, interrupting Sam who was going to add more to that discussion, "Dude, chill. It's not that big of a deal, you know. Who cares?" He looked over at Sam, "So, you think we're dealing with a pagan god?"

Sam looked from his niece, up to his brother, quickly and read off what he had pulled up on the screen, "Yeah, probably Holdenacar, god of the winter solstice."

"And all these Martha Stewart wannabes buying theses fancy wreaths."

"Yeah, it's like putting a neon sign on your front door, saying: 'Come kill us.'"

Dean nodded, walking away, "Great."

Sarah was reading up on Holdenacar in her book. "Huh, when you sacrifice Holdenacar, he produces mild weather," she read out loud.

"Kind of like no snow in the middle of December, in Michigan," Dean nodded outside the window. "So do we know how to kill it yet?"

Sarah continued scanning through the page, "Not yet…"

"Bobby's working on that, right now," Sam told him.

"Well you might want to call him back and tell him, not to worry about it," Sarah said, once she finished reading.

"Why's that, Peanut?" he asked.

"I just found it."

"Well then, now all we have to do is figure out where they're selling those wreaths."

"You think, they're selling them on purpose?" Dean asked. "Feeding the victims to this thing?"

Sam sighed, "Let's find out."

They stopped in at a Christmas store and asked the owner about the wreaths and where he had gotten them from. The owner explained they were given to him, for free by a local woman, named Madge Carrigan which he sold for a high amount.

On the way back to the motel, the Winchesters stopped at a diner for dinner.

"How much do you think a meadowsweet wreath would cost?" Dean was asking as they walked in the door, as he turned on the light and closed the door behind them.

"Couple hundred dollars, at least," Sam shrugged, walking over to the beds.

"And this lady's giving them away for free?" he asked, removing his jacket. "What do you think about that?"

Sarah removed hers, too, tossing it on the couch, beside where she sat down. "That she could be behind all this," she shrugged.

Sam and Dean tossed theirs on their beds, before sitting on the foot of them. "Remember that wreath Dad brought home that one year?" Dean smiled at his brother.

Sam was leaning forward on his elbows. "You mean the one he stole from, like, a liquor store?" he asked.

Dean nodded, "It was a bunch of empty beer cans. That thing was great."

Sam stared down at the floor.

"I bet if I looked around hard enough, I could probably find one just like it."

Sarah lied on the couch, leaning her arms over the arm closest to the brothers. "I made one, one year, out of construction paper and pipe cleaners, I bet I can make it again if I tried," she shrugged.

"Sounds good, Baby girl," Dean smiled over at her. "I think I saw a craft store somewhere around here."

Sam shook his head at the floor. "All right. Dude, what's going on with you?"

"What?" he shrugged at him.

"Since when are you Bing Crosby, all of a sudden?" asked Sam. "Why do you wanna do Christmas so bad?"

Dean stared ahead for a moment before he asked, "Why are you so against it? Were your childhood memories that traumatic?"

"No, that has nothing to do with it," he said, truthfully.

Sarah asked, "Then what's wrong?"

Sam shrugged, "I mean, I just…I don't get it. You haven't talked about Christmas in years, Dean. You didn't exactly pick it up that year, you and Sarah met either."

Dean looked at the floor. "It never occurred to me, I guessed. But this, this is my last year."

Sam sighed at that, looking over at his niece, who was staring at the floor with just her eyes. "I know," he finally said. "That's why I can't."

Dean looked at him for a moment before looking away again. "What do you mean?"

He breathed in through his nose. "I mean, I can't sit around, drinking eggnog, pretending everything's okay when…" Sam took in a deep breath. "…when I know next Christmas you'll be dead." No one said anything for a moment. "I just can't."

Dean nodded at the floor, in understanding. He hadn't thought about that, Dean just figured their last holiday could cheer the three of them up, give his daughter some more, happy memories of her father before it would be over. He looked over at Sarah, who looked like she was thinking about something.

Christmas night, 2004

Sarah sat on her knees, trying not to put pressure on her sore bottom. Christmas dinner was finished and the kitchen was cleaned up before she sat around the tree with her grandparents, mother, and Mark, along with the rest of their large family. Sarah usually sat back in the corner and quietly opened her gifts. She opened each one before Mark walked over and sat on the floor, beside her, holding a few more gifts on his lap.

"Sar Bear, there's something I need to tell you, that'll be hard to hear," he told her.

"What's that, Mark?" she asked, looking at a model airplane in her hands.

"I…I won't be here for Christmas, next year," he told her, sadly.

Sarah stared up at her second cousin, her eyes wide and mouth hanging open. "What do you mean? Where will you be?"

"They want me to move to Iraq, where they have an army camp set up there. I'm supposed to leave the beginning of February and stay for at least five years," explained Mark.

"Five years…but what about us? I don't want you to leave, Mark. You're my only friend, my best friend. You can't leave, you just can't." Tears filled up in Sarah's eyes as she turned back to stare at the airplane.

Mark wrapped his left arm around her, "I'm sure you'll meet another best friend. There's gotta be someone out there who likes you, for you. It is what's on the inside that counts, right?"

She nodded, not looking up.

"I love you, Sar Bear," he told her and kissed the side of her head. "And I want you to have these since I'll be gone for that long." He placed the gifts on the floor, in front of the little girl.

Sarah grabbed the smallest gift, off the top and ripped off the foil, wrapping paper and unfolded a cardboard box to find a black PSP and a carrying case full of games. "You're letting me have your PSP?" she asked him, surprised.

"Hey, what better person to take of my favorite handheld video game than my favorite second cousin?" he grinned.

Sarah smiled and hugged him around the neck. "Thank you, Mark."

"You're welcome, Sarah," he replied and let go. "Oh yeah, and I made sure to put your music on there, too. Never knew a kid who loved classic rock as much as you do."

"Only good kind of music out there," she shrugged, starting to unwrap the larger box now. Sarah then unfolded that box and looked inside to find a Nintendo 64 and GameCube, also with several games. "You're also giving me these, too?"

Mark put his arm around her again, "You bet. Merry Christmas, Sarah."

"Merry Christmas, Mark." Sarah hugged her second cousin again as one of the boys had noticed what Sarah had just gotten and jealously pointed it out. She ignored him though.

Present day

The Winchesters searched around town until they found the right house. Dean knocked on the door where a sweet, middle-aged woman answered.

Please tell me you're the Madge Carrigan who makes the meadowsweet wreaths," he told her.

"Why, yes I am," Madge Carrigan replied, proudly.

Dean laughed, "Bingo."

"Yeah, well we were just admiring your wreaths at Mr. Silar's place, the other day," Sam explained as Dean looked around her house, behind Madge Carrigan.

"You were?" she asked. "Well, isn't that meadowsweet the finest smelling thing you ever smelled?"

"Well, actually I…" Dean smacked Sarah up-side the head, gentle but firm. "I mean, yes, best thing I ever smelled," Sarah told her, rubbing the back of her head, glaring at her father out of the corner of her eye.

"Yeah, it sure is," Sam agreed, "But see the problem is that all your wreaths had sold out before we got the chance to buy one."

"Oh, fudge," Madge Carrigan said, disappointed to hear they couldn't buy one of their own.

"You wouldn't happen to have another one we could buy from you, would you?" Dean asked her.

"Oh no, I'm afraid those were the only one I had for this season."

Sarah snapped her fingers, "Oh darn, that's too bad. I was really hoping to have one on our door," she said in a fake, disappointed tone of her own.

"Well, there's always next year, sweetheart," Madge Carrigan assured her, sweetly.

"Yeah," Dean agreed. "But tell me something, why'd you decide to make them out of meadowsweet?"

She smiled, "Why, the smell of course. I don't think I ever smelled anything finer."

"Yeah," said Sam. "You, um, mentioned that."

At that point, a gentlemen around the same age as Madge Carrigan walked up behind her, smoking a corncob pipe and wearing a blue sweater. "What's going on, honey?" he asked, looking between his wife and the Winchesters.

"Well, just some nice boys and their daughter, asking about my wreaths, dear," she told him.

Sam and Dean frowned when they heard Madge Carrigan call Sarah, both their daughter.

Mr. Carrigan raised his pipe into the air, "Oh, the wreaths are fine. Fine wreaths."

Sarah's eyebrow rose, just by the look of him alone, much less what he just said. She felt like she was inside one of her grandmother's TV shows or something.

"Oh, care for some peanut brittle?" he asked, holding a box of hard, peanut butter-coated candy in his right hand.

Dean tried reaching for some until Sam smacked his arm down as Sarah politely told him, "No, thanks. I have a peanut allergy. I swell up like a balloon if I eat even one nut."

"No problem, sweetheart," he smiled at her.

Sam thanked the Carrigans for their time and left.


	100. Chapter 99-A Very Supernatural Xmas(p3)

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 99

For the rest of the day, the Winchesters prepared for that night. Sam did some more research, running a search on the Carrigans who lived in Seattle the year before where two abductions took place, around the same time.

That evening, they headed back to the Carrigans house where Sarah picked the lock on the front door before they snuck in. Sam, Dean, and Sarah wandered around the dark house until Sam found a latched door that led to the basement. Quietly and carefully, the three of them headed down there, with flashlights to check things out, finding some very disturbing things.

Sarah stayed close to Dean, per orders while Sam wandered over to the other side. He found a sack hanging from a hook and reached out to touch it when suddenly it shook, making Sam jump. When he turned around, Madge Carrigan had him by the neck.

Dean noticed and tried to run over to help his brother. However, Mr. Carrigan had grabbed him and knocked Dean out. Sarah tried to stab Mr. Carrigan with her stake but was also knocked out. Soon, Sam was too.

Sometime later, Sam awoke first, tied to a chair with his back turned to his brother and niece. They were upstairs again, in the dining room, next to the table that held several bowls, knives, and tools. "Dean, Sarah. Are you okay?"

Dean was the next one to come to. "Yeah, I think so."

Sarah stirred last. "Oh man, my head," she moaned and tried to move her hand to rub at the sore spot.

"You okay, Baby Girl?" Dean asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You both okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay," he replied.

Sam sighed, "So I guess we're dealing with Mr. and Mrs. God. Nice to know."

"They ain't my God," Sarah shook her head, which didn't help the pain any. "Oh boy, would I kill for an ibuprofen right about now."

Mr. and Mrs. Carrigan walked in. "Oh, here we thought you three lazybones were gonna sleep through all the fun," Mrs. Carrigan laughed.

"Boy, haven't heard that name in a long time," Sarah muttered, remembering back when she used to sleep at her grandparents' house.

"And miss all this?" Dean said, sarcastically. "No, we're partiers."

Mr. Carrigan was circling around the Winchesters, holding his corncob pipe, "Isn't he a kick in the pants, honey."

Sarah was trying to analyze what he had just said, over in her head. "Kick in the…wait, you think my dad is painful…Oh, he's so funny, it's painful, right?"

Dean sighed. "Shut up, Sarah," he told her.

"No, you're hunters, is what you are," Mr. Carrigan stared down at Sarah, in a serious tone. "Of course, never met one so young as you are."

"I may be young but I can send you to your knees with one kick to the groin," she warned him.

"Ooh, a feisty one," remarked Mrs. Carrigan.

"Yeah, and you're pagan gods," Dean also remarked. "So why don't we call it even and go all separate ways."

"What? So you can bring back more hunters and kill us?" Mr. Carrigan asked and laughed. "I don't think so."

Sam looked back, over his right shoulder, "Maybe you should have thought about that before you went snacking on humans then, huh?"

"Oh, now, don't get all wet."

"Ho," said Mrs. Carrigan, "Why, we used to take over a hundred tributes a year. And that's a fact." She unfolded a green napkin and laid it on Dean's lap. "Now what do we take?" she asked, grabbing another one and placing it on Sarah's lap. "What, two, three."

"And Three Stooges here make six," Mr. Carrigan pointed out with his pipe.

"Now, that's not so bad, is it?" she asked, in realization. "And we never had a child before either so we're in for a real treat."

"Well, you say it like that, I guess you guys are the Cunninghams," said Dean.

Sarah asked, "Who?"

"Not the point, Sarah," he reminded her again.

"You mister better show us a little respect," Mr. Carrigan told him, sternly.

This whole thing was seriously bringing up memories of her grandparents' home, growing up, for Sarah. That is, without the whole pagan worship part.

Sam asked, "Or what?" He smiled at him, "You'll eat us."

"Uncle Sam, please don't give them any ideas," Sarah told her uncle. "Trust me, you don't want to eat someone like me. I'm tough and stringy, and full of chocolate milk. I swear."

"Don't worry, we like a little chocolate now and then," Mrs. Carrigan assured the little girl.

"Besides, there are rituals to be followed first," Mr. Carrigan added.

"Oh, we're just sticklers for rituals," she told them, bent over.

"And you know what kicks off the whole shebang?"

"Let me guess," Dean said, looking at his lap. "Meadowsweet. Oh, shucks. You're all out of wreaths. So I guess we'll have to cancel the sacrifice. Huh?"

Mrs. Carrigan walked around them and pulled out a small thing of meadowsweet, "Don't be such a gloomy Gus," she told him and placed it around his neck. "There." She walked around and placed each one around Sam and Sarah's necks as well. "Don't they just look darling, especially the little one."

"Good enough to eat," Mr. Carrigan complimented, smacking his lips which made Dean uncomfortable. "Alrighty-roo, step number two." He picked up a sharp, curved knife and a bowl and took it around the table to Sam first where he cut into his right arm.

"Sammy?" Dean called over his shoulder as Sam cried out in pain. Blood poured from the wound and into the bowl. "Leave him alone, you son of a bitch!"

"Hear how they talk to us?" Mr. Carrigan laughed. "To gods." He walked away, back over to the table. "Listen, pal. Back in the day, we were worshiped by millions."

"Times have changed," Dean spat at him.

He laughed again. "Tell me about it. All of a sudden, this Jesus character's the hot new thing in town."

"Watch it, that's my Savior you're talking about," Sarah also spat at him, coldly.

"Case in point. All of a sudden, our altars are being burned down and we're being hunted like, common monsters."

"But did we say peep?" Mrs. Carrigan added. "Oh no, no, no, no, we did not." They mixed stuff with Sam's blood as if they were preparing a big meal or something. "Two millennium. We kept a low profile, we got jobs, a mortgage. We…" she turned to her husband. "What was that word, dear?"

"We assimilated," he said, eating a piece of popcorn.

"Yes, we assimilated," she repeated. "Why we play bridge on Tuesdays and Fridays. We're just like everybody else."

Sarah just rolled her eyes. "Give me a break," she mumbled.

"You're not blending in like you think, lady," Dean told Mrs. Carrigan.

"This might pinch a bit, dear," she told him and sliced his arm like they had done with Sam.

Dean groaned in pain. "You bitch!"

"Oh, my goodness, me. Somebody owes a nickel to the swear jar. Oh, you know what I say when I feel like swearing? Fudge."

He looked up at her, in pain. "I'll try and remember that," he told her.

Mr. Carrigan walked over towards Sam again, carrying a pair of pliers. "You three have no idea how lucky you are. There was a time when kids came from miles around just to be sitting where you are."

Sam grew uncomfortable at the sight of the pliers. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked of the older man, trying to inch back in his seat.

Mrs. Carrigan was carrying the bowl and knife around to Sarah, this time.

"You fudging touch her, I'll fudging kill you!" he warned the woman, harshly.

"Very good," she told him before turning back to Sarah and sliced across her arm as Sarah cried out from the pain, her blood pouring into a white bowl.

"Sarah!" Dean yelled over his shoulder. "Get away from her!"

Meanwhile, Sam was struggling against the man, as Mr. Carrigan tried to grab one of his fingers and ripped off its nail with the pliers. Sam screamed out in extreme pain. Once it was over, he was panting the hardest of the three, hoping it was over. Unfortunately, the couple remembered they forgot the tooth and walked over to Dean, with the pliers again.

"Merry Christmas, Sam. Merry Christmas, Sarah," Dean told them, over his shoulder.

Sam just moaned.

"Yeah, merry Christmas, Dad," Sarah replied.

Mr. Carrigan was then standing in front of Dean and told him to open wide. Meanwhile, Sarah couldn't help feel itchy on the back of her neck and tried to scratch with the back of her head. Right as the man was about to yank out Dean's tooth, the doorbell rang.

"Somebody gonna get that?" Dean asked, with a mouth full of pliers.

The doorbell rang a second time.

He nodded, "You should get that."

Mr. Carrigan rolled his eyes and reluctantly put down the pliers to go answer the door. While they were gone, Dean was able to cut himself loose before cutting the other two loose and quickly hurried out of the room. When the Carrigans returned, they slammed the doors shut.

Dean and Sarah pressed themselves against one of the doors as one of the Carrigans tried to open it. Sarah was trying desperately to focus instead of thinking of the itch coming from her neck. Dean noticed a drawer beside him and opened it, standing up from the door.

"Sarah, come on," he told her as he took off to join his brother at the other door. Sarah followed after him. "What do we do now? The evergreen stakes are in the basement," he yelled as he held the door shut with his right hand.

Sam was pressed up, against the door, "Well, we need more evergreen, Dean." He then happened to look over at the Carrigan's Christmas tree. "I think I just found us some more."

"Who keeps a tree made out of something that can kill them?" Sarah questioned as she looked over for herself, from also holding the door shut with both hands.

"Who brings up logic during a very crucial fight for their lives?"

"I was just saying," Sarah told her uncle.

"Are we really having this conversation, right now?" Dean questioned his brother and daughter, still holding his hand on the door.

Sam looked over at the china cabinet and asked Dean for help to move it in front of the door before rushing right over to the tree and knocking it over and broke off a few pieces of the trunk. Sam passed one to Sarah before they hurried back towards the door. It was eerily quiet now as each of them looked around.

Mr. Carrigan came around the corner and tackled Dean while Mrs. Carrigan went after Sam, angrily, both of them getting the crap beat out of them. Sarah rushed right over to help her father, plunging the tree stake into Mr. Carrigan's back, using both hands to shove it in, deeper, having some difficulty with strength. The man screamed out in pain before falling over, dead. Dean pushed him off and made sure Sarah was okay before rushing over to help his brother.

By that time, Sam didn't really need any help. He grabbed a chance to shove his own tree stake into her chest, killing her, as well. The Winchesters looked down at the couple, panting heavily.

Sam looked over at his brother, "Merry Christmas," he told him, in between breaths. Dean just rolled his head away as Sam sighed, looking back down at them. Dean happened to catch his daughter, beside him, finally able to freely scratch at the back of her neck. He moved over to her and lifted Sarah's hair up from it to see her neck had broken out into hives.

"Baby Girl, I think you had an allergic reaction to meadowsweet," he informed her.

Sarah looked up at him, "I did?"

"Yeah, your neck's covered in pink blotches, all over." Dean released her hair and Sarah continued to scratch at it. "Guess we better get ya some calamine lotion." The three of them decided to leave as soon as they cleaned up so no one knew they were there.

Dean dropped Sam off at the motel when he said he was exhausted, and he and Sarah headed for the gas mart again to gas up the Impala and grab more beer, the calamine lotion, which Dean applied to Sarah's hives in the car, and something for dinner.

Sarah stared out the window as Dean drove back to the motel. "Hey, what do you say, we have our own Christmas, just the two of us?" Dean asked her. "Just because Sam doesn't want in, doesn't mean we can't do it."

She looked over at him. "Okay, but do you think Uncle Sam will still accept a gift?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

Sarah stood up, on her knees and climbed over the seat, into the back and reached under the backseat to pull out two newspaper wrapped gifts, before climbing back over and showing them to her father. "I was planning on giving you guys gifts, regardless if one of you brought up Christmas or not. When you left me at Uncle Bobby's, I decided to make you something." The gifts were the size Sam had wrapped Dean's necklace back when they were kids.

Dean smiled at her and reached over to pull her against him, into a hug. When they got back to the motel, they were surprised to find it decorated, along with part of the Carrigans' tree, over in the corner.

"Hey, you get the beer?" Sam asked, holding up a cup of eggnog.

"What's all this?" Dean asked, walking towards his brother.

"What do you think it is? It's Christmas."

"But you said you didn't want to do Christmas," Sarah reminded him.

Sam tried to smile at his niece but decided to change the subject, reaching down to grab another cup of eggnog, passing it to Dean. "Here, try the eggnog. Let me know if it needs some more kick."

Dean tried it. "Taste like you didn't put anything in it."

"Wait, that's probably Sarah's." Sam grabbed the last cup of eggnog and passed it to him, who passed the first one to Sarah.

"Geez, Sam. It's a good thing you didn't give Sarah, hers first," Dean coughed when he tasted the "spiked" eggnog.

"Yeah, that probably would have been bad," Sam agreed.

Sarah asked, "You put beer in eggnog?"

"Bourbon, actually and yes, we do. You'll understand when you're older." Dean told her.

"Well, have a seat," Sam backed over to the couch. "Let's do Christmas stuff or whatever."

"All right, first thing's first." Dean pulled a chair from the table as Sarah and Sam sat down on the couch, setting their cups on the coffee table. Dean pulled out to paper bags from the plastic grocery bag and held them out to his brother.

Sam smiled at him before taking the presents, to look at them. "Where did you get these?"

"Some place special," he replied, removing his jacket.

Sam looked over at him again.

"Gas mart, down the street," Dean admitted, making Sam laugh. "Open them up."

"Yeah, great minds think alike, Dean." Sam reached underneath the couch and pulled out two gifts for his brother and two more for his niece, wrapped in newspaper.

He asked, "Really?"

Here you go," Sam said as he passed Sarah, hers. "Go ahead, Peanut, you go first."

Excited, Sarah began ripping into the cylinder shaped present. "Chocolate milk! Thanks, Uncle Sam," she thanked him.

"You're welcome, Peanut."

She opened the second present, to find a booster pack of Pokémon cards. "Wow, new Pokémon cards, too?" Sarah jumped on her uncle, hugging his neck. "Thank you so much!"

"I'd thought you would like those," he smiled, hugging her back. Sarah moved so Sam could take his turn, taking out a couple of magazines from the first one.

"What are those?" Sarah asked, trying to get a look for herself.

Sam quickly sat on them, getting them out of sight. "Uh, nothing you need to see," he assured her and opened the next one, which was shaving cream.

"You like?" Dean asked, starting to open his.

Sam smiled over him, "Yeah," he turned to look at the can again. "Yeah."

Dean laughed when he opened his gifts from Sam. "Well, look at this. Fuel for me, and fuel for my car."

Sam nodded.

"These are awesome. Thanks." Dean stared down at them.

"Open mine, next." Sarah passed her gifts to her father and uncle. They each put the gifts from each down so they could take Sarah's, each opening them up at the same time.

"Wow, Peanut," Sam said when he had his unwrapped. It was a wooden, beaded bracelet with two different sized beads. "Did you make this?"

"I got a kit once from a tour I took with my class, when we visited an old Indian reserve and I guess it got into the box of video games when I picked up my stuff when Uncle Bobby took me to see my grandparents that one time. I found it when you guys left me at his place, so I decided to make one for each of you since Christmas was only a couple months away."

Dean was sliding his onto his right wrist. "I love it, Baby Girl," and pulled her in, to give her a hug and kissed her on the head. Sam did the same afterwards while his brother stood up and walked over to where he left his duffel bag on his bed, coming back with a newspaper-wrapped, rectangular gift. He walked around, behind the couch and sat back down on the chair. "Sarah, this is for you," he told her, handing it to her.

Sarah took it and ripped off the newspaper. It was an old, worn out, flat box, the dark wood chipped off in a couple places. She opened the lid to reveal a silver pocket knife inside.

"My dad gave that to me when I was about your age so I figured I'd pass it on to you," Dean explained to her.

Sarah took the knife from the box, setting the box on the couch beside her and pulled out the blade which looked like it had been recently cleaned. "Thanks, Dad. I…I love it." She stood up and went over to hug her father around the neck. "Merry Christmas, Dad."

"Merry Christmas, Baby Girl," he replied, hugging her in return.

Sarah let go and walked over to her uncle to give him another hug. "Merry Christmas, Uncle Sammy."

Sam also hugged her again. "Merry Christmas, Peanut."

They let go. Sam looked over at his brother. "Hey, Dean…"

Dean looked back at him.

He looked up at the ceiling then sighed, looking forward. This time, next year, it would just be him and Sarah and it pained Sam to know his brother would be gone from them. Instead of telling Dean that, he asked, "Do you feel like watching the game?"

Dean brightened up at that idea, "Absolutely." He had no clue what to do next anyway.

Sam chuckled to himself, "All right." He stood up and reached over to flip on the old fashioned TV to a football game and sat back in his seat, slouching this time. Dean grinned as he watched it, taking another drink of his eggnog.

With her new knife back in its box, for now, Sarah grabbed her new Pokémon cards and moved over to climb into her father's lap, sitting sideways as she rested her head against his chest. She ripped open the foil packaging, tossing it onto the floor and looked through the cards. Dean smiled down at his daughter and kissed the top of her head as he held her in his left arm. They each sat there, not noticing that it had started snowing outside.

This did turn out to be a good Christmas, after all.


	101. Chapter 100-Malleus Maleficarum (part 1)

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 100

While Dean spoke to a young man about his wife's death, Sam and Sarah checked out the bathroom where she had died. Sam covered all the high places and Sarah looked around where she could reach, opening up the cupboard under the sink. She shined her flashlight around the cupboard until Sarah spotted a small, cloth bag, tied around at the neck.

Grabbing it, Sarah looked up at her uncle. "Uncle Sam," she whispered so no one would hear out there, to Sam to get his attention and held the bag up to show him.

Sam took it and looked it over in his right hand. He knew exactly what it was as he stole a quick peek inside before Sam had his niece follow him out of the bathroom to let Dean know they had found something. Leaving the young man alone, the Winchesters left the house.

"That dude seem a little evasive to you?" Dean asked once they were outside.

Sam shrugged, "I don't know. We were in his bathroom where Sarah found this under his sink." He handed the bag to his brother, who took it from him.

"It's a hex bag, right?" asked Sarah, walking on the opposite side of Dean from her uncle.

"Yup," Sam replied as Dean opened it up, grossed out by the sight. "There are bird bones, rabbit's teeth. This cloth is probably cut from something Janet Dutton owned."

Dean finished looking at it and handed it back to Sam as he started walking towards the Impala. "So we're thinking witch."

Sam and Sarah followed. "Uh, yeah," Sam told him, looking at the ground, "and not some New Age Wiccan water dowser either. This is Old World black magic," he held the hex bag out to his brother as Dean walked around the car. "I mean, warts and all." Sam grabbed ahold of the car door handle and opened it up to slide right in, right before Dean slid into the driver side.

Dean stared forward for a second before turning to face Sam, "I hate witches."

Sam gave a small laugh.

Sarah stood right behind the front seat, her arms folded on top, her left leg bent on the seat behind her. "I don't know, the ones with the glasses and lightning-shaped scars are kind of cute." Sarah paused once she said that. "Did I just say that out loud?"

A huge grin appeared on Dean's face. "Oh," he smiled, teasingly. "My little girl's got her first crush."

Sarah turned red in the face and hid inside her folded arms. She couldn't believe she had just admitted what she just said.

"So you're starting to like boys now, huh?" Dean teased his daughter. "Is there anyone else I should be aware of or is Harry Potter the only one?"

She quickly shook her head still in her arms. "There's not, I swear," she said, quickly.

Dean looked at her, sideways. "There is, isn't there?" He nodded, "Who is it? Is he famous? A boy we met?"

"It's no one, Dad." Sarah was sliding down from the seat, onto the floor.

"Come on, you can tell me. Who is he? Do I know him or not?"

She wouldn't admit she had another crush on someone, it was too embarrassing for her that she actually thought boys were cute. Sarah just tried to hide the shade of red she was turning, hoping her father would stop teasing her about it.

"Maybe I should tickle it out of you," Dean shrugged, winking over at Sam who was also smiling. "Haven't had to do that in a while."

"It's no one, Dad," she tried to tell him.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's someone." Dean got up, onto his right knee and reached over the seat to tickle his daughter, trying to make her sing like a canary. "Who is he, huh?" he repeated as Sarah tried to push his hand away, protectively. To make things easier, Dean climbed over the seat, into the back and began using both of his hands to tickle her with, making it impossible for Sarah to get away. "Come on, tell me. I won't stop until you do."

Sarah still tried to push her father's hands away but Dean just moved them and tickled another spot, knowing exactly where all of her most ticklish spots were. "Uncle Sammy, help me," she managed to call out in between laughs.

Sam smiled at the seat, next to him. "Okay, Dean. I think that's enough. If Sarah doesn't want to tell us, she shouldn't have to."

Dean stopped. "I know," he told his brother, "but now I know my little girl does like boys, after all, as a father I must know who it is." He turned back to Sarah. "How about if I guess it? Then will you tell me?"

"You'll never guess it, Dad," she shook her head, up at him.

Dean grinned, "Oh, you think so, huh? Is he on TV or in movies?"

Sarah shook her head.

"He's someone we met?" he asked.

Sarah hesitated at first, but slowly nodded.

Dean thought about it and then climbed back over the front seat to start the car. "Someone we met, huh. Is he a kid?" he asked back, over his right shoulder as he pulled away from the curb.

Sarah bit her lower lip. There were hundreds of guys they met. There had to be a very low chance her father would guess it right. Finally, she shook her head.

Sam was sitting sideways, looking back at her. "So you like the older guys?" he asked.

Dean stared into the mirror, confused. "It's not Bobby, is it?"

"No," Sarah replied as if she was offended by what Dean had said. "Uncle Bobby is family and on top of that, really old."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks. Who could it be?

"Is it a friend of ours or was it someone we helped out on a hunt and never heard from again?" Dean continued to ask.

Sarah was now chewing on her lower lip, staring at the floor as she sat on the seat with her legs folded, towards her. After a few moments, she threw herself forward, onto her stomach and hid her face again.

Dean watched from the rear-view mirror. He couldn't help have a little fun with his daughter. He also couldn't believe Sarah was already old enough to like boys when just a year ago, she thought liking boys was disgusting. He had to know who this mystery crush was.

"Dean, don't you usually get on my case about trying to pry something out of her?" Sam pointed out, breaking Dean's thoughts.

Dean sighed. "Yeah, I do. Fine, Baby Girl, if you don't want to tell me, I guess you don't have to." He made it sound convincing where Sarah would feel guilty enough to tell him anyway but to his disappointment, she said, "Okay," and left it at that. Dean glared over at Sam who shrugged, innocently.

Next, the Winchesters decided to follow the young man, thinking he may have been the next victim. Dean pulled up to his car that night, just as the man had gotten out of his car and collapsed on the ground, choking. The Winchesters jumped from the car. While Sam searched the young man's car for a hex bag, Dean helped him to his feet. Luckily, it was a quick search and Sam was then able to burn the hex bag, thus saving the young man's life.

Confused, the young man questioned what was happening to him. Dean then tried to interrogate who could want him and his wife dead. The young man explained about an affair he had with another woman that he had put a stop to, a week ago and said the woman's name was Amanda.

Once they had a name and an address, the Winchesters headed to where, the woman responsible for murdering the young man's wife and tried to do the same with him, lived. Sarah picked the lock on the front door before the three of them, quietly made their way inside, with their guns out. Wandering around the dark house, they eventually walked into a room with an altar, surrounded by lit candles and one dead Amanda.

"That's a curve ball," Dean commented when he had shut on the lights and Sam agreed.

Sarah cautiously stepped towards the woman, still holding her gun in both hands and noticed the puddle of blood underneath Amanda. Using the end of her gun, she moved Amanda's right arm to look at the other side, also checking her left arm as well. "There are vertical slash marks on her arms," she told her father and uncle.

Dean walked over to his daughter, "How many on each one?"

"Three."

He walked around to the other side of Amanda. "She wasn't fooling around," Dean commented again, looking around at the altar.

Sam kneeled down to examine what looked like a cooked and rotted whole chicken, with maggots crawling around it, along with a wooden board with a witchcraft symbol on the front. There was also a black-hilted knife sticking in the chicken, and a green altar cloth and an open notebook of spell rituals.

Sarah looked over at the mess, just as grossed out as her uncle was. "Hey, Dad, remember in the car, fifteen minutes ago when I said I was hungry? Well, I think I just lost my appetite."

"I don't blame you, Peanut," Sam agreed, trying hard not to throw up. "Looks like she was working some heavyweight evil here."

Dean agreed and turned around before almost jumping out of his skin. "Oh God!" he said in surprise, making Sam and Sarah look over at him. He rubbed his left hand over his eyes and stared at a dead rabbit hanging upside down from the ceiling. "Frigging witches." Dean turned back around, "Seriously, man, come on."

Sam stood back up and raised his eyebrows. "Guess we know where she got the rabbit teeth from."

"Paul sure knows how to pick them, huh? It's like _Fatal Attraction _all over again."

"Yeah," Sam agreed, quietly.

Dean looked back at the rabbit, "But why does a rabbit always get screwed in the deal? Poor little guy." He looked down at the glass table underneath that held a large bowl of blood, a small animal skull, and a silver goblet filled with blood too.

"I know," Sarah agreed. "Rabbits are so cute too, like Thumper from _Bambi_."

"This one cried the first time we watched it when we were kids," Dean nodded over Sam, snickering to himself.

Sarah looked over at her uncle, "You did?"

"I seem recall someone trying to hide behind a pillow so no one would see him cry too, Dean," Sam reminded his brother.

Dean raised a finger towards his brother, "I was not crying. I was…trying to pick out a booger that was irritating my nose and didn't want you to think I was picking it," he tried to lie.

Sam smiled at the floor and looked back over at him, "Sure, Dean. That was what you were doing."

Dean glanced around at the altar.

"What I don't get though, is if this girl was so bent on revenge, why do this?"

"Well," Dean shrugged, "she got Janet Dutton, thought she'd finished off Paul. Decided to cap herself, make it a spurned lover's hat trick."

"Maybe." Sam bent over, placing his hands on his knees to get a look at Amanda.

"I mean, this doesn't look like a TV room of a bright and stable person, you know," he added, placing his gun inside his jacket.

Sam was looking around the glass coffee table, as if he was looking for something. "No, but then…" he looked underneath and pulled out another hex bag and stood back up to show it to his brother and niece. "There's this." Sam tossed it over at Dean.

Dean stared back at him. "Another hex bag? Come on," he moaned, looking it over and untied it to look inside. Tossing it onto the glass table, he took out his cellphone. "Looks like we got a hit, huh? Little witch-on-witch violence." Dean held his phone up and dialed 911.

"I guess," Sam shrugged.

"I like to report a dead body," Dean told the dispatcher on the phone when they answered. "309 Mayfair Circle. My name? Yeah, sure. My name is…" He hung up at that point and nodded at Amanda's lifeless body, "why are witches ganking each other?"

Sarah shrugged, "Rivalry?"

"Maybe," said Sam, staring at Amanda as well. "But I think we got a coven on our hands."

The following day, the Winchesters decided to speak to Amanda's neighbors and try to dig up any information they could on her. They walked up to her next door neighbor's house where a woman with long, brown hair was tending to a garden.

"You must have a green thumb," Sam commented as they walked up to her.

She asked, looking up at them, "Excuse me?"

Sam pointed at the garden, "Getting these herbs to grow out of season like this. It's quite impressive."

The woman looked down at her garden again.

"I'm sorry. I should have introduced myself first." Sam quickly went inside his suit jacket and pulled out a badge and showed it to her. Dean and Sarah did the same. "I'm, uh, Detective Bachman. This is Detective Turner and Detective Ketchum."

Dean smiled at her, "Hiya."

The woman stood up, slowly, watching them.

"We're following up on Amanda Burn's death," Sarah explained to her as she tucked her badge away. We're asking her neighbors about what they knew about her."

"But didn't she…" She stared down at Sarah, backing away, slowly. "I mean, she killed herself, right?"

"Maybe," Sam nodded at her. "Maybe."

"But we heard you were friends with the deceased, is that right?" asked Dean.

She looked down at the ground for a second. "Yeah, I guess so," the woman nodded.

He nodded, watching her. "Do you have any idea about her practices?"

"I'm sorry. What kind of practices?" she asked, confused.

"Well, you see her house was littered with satanic paraphernalia," Sam explained.

"A regular black Sabbath," Dean quickly added with a smirk.

The woman shook her head, "No. That… But she was an Episcopalian," she told them, stumbling over her words.

Sarah's eyebrow rose at that as her father replied, "Well, then we're pretty sure she was using the wrong Bible." Dean chuckled.

They heard someone call to the woman, behind him, "Elizabeth." The Winchesters turned to see two women walking over to them, around the same age as the first. The women walked around the Winchesters to stand on either side of Elizabeth. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she told them as they neared her. "Uh, Renee, these are detectives. They say Amanda was…She was practicing…"

The blond woman, Renee, on Elizabeth's right touched her arm and turned to look at the Winchesters, "Sorry, detectives. You can tell Elizabeth is a little upset." She looked between them and Elizabeth.

"No problem, we understand, Miss Renee, right?" Sarah nodded at the blond woman, politely.

She smiled, "Mrs. Renee Van Allan. Would you like me to spell it for you?"

Sarah took in a deep and tried to stay polite. "No thank you, I think I got it," she plainly told her.

Renee continued, "This Amanda business has been hard for Liz, for all of us."

The third woman, on Elizabeth's left side agreed. "I mean, you think you know a person…."

Sam looked between the women with just his eyes before looking downward. Dean looked over at him before he replied, "Well, I guess we all have our own secrets, don't we?"

The women, except for Elizabeth just smiled at them.

"Well, thanks," Sam thanked the women. "Um, we'll be in touch."

Dean nodded at the women, turning to leave, "Have a nice day."


	102. Chapter 101-Malleus Maleficarum (part 2)

**In case you missed it and are interested, I wrote another story last night involving Dean in a protective role to another kid, called, _Answered Prayers_. From the attention it got today, it looks like I will be continuing that one too so check it out if you want. Just warning though, there is mention of past child abuse but it's a good story, nonetheless. **

**Family is Where the Heart is **

Chapter 101

Sarah and Sam did research the rest of the day, looking into the past three months of Elizabeth and her friends and looked through the news articles for each one as Dean drove down the highway, that night.

"Well, I'm already sold on that Elizabeth chick," Dean was telling them. "You see that victory garden of hers? Belladonna, wolf's bane, mandrake. Not to mention that little flinch she threw when we mentioned the occult."

Sam was looking through his half of the articles, using a flashlight to see. "Well, she's definitely had a good run lately. Gone up a few tax brackets, won almost too many raffles. The kind of thing a little black magic always helps with." He looked over at his brother.

He shrugged, agreeing with Sam.

"It's not just her, either," Sarah spoke up from the backseat. She was looking through the other half of the news articles and mimicked the way Renee had said her name but in a sarcastic way. "Mrs. Renee Van Allen won every craft contest she won in the past three months."

"A regular Martha Stewart, huh?" Dean commented, "Except for the devil worship. I'm thinking that was the coven we met back there, minus one member."

"Amanda was clearly going off the reservation," Sam pointed out. "What do you think? Think they killed her to keep up appearances?"

"Seems like an appearance type of crowd, don't you think?" he shrugged again, looking over at Sam.

"Yeah."

"If they killed a nutjob, should we, uh, thank them or what?"

"They're working black magic too, Dean," Sam reminded him. "They need to be stopped."

Dean quickly shot a look at his brother, surprised. "Stopped like "stopped?'"

Sam just shrugged.

"They're human, Sam."

"They're murderers," he added.

"Wait, can't we just burn their altar or make them stop?" Sarah objected. "Make them see what they're doing could lead to trouble or something?"

"When does that ever work?"

Sarah didn't respond. She looked down at the news articles to continue reading through them until a rattling, shrieking sound was heard, coming from the car and began to slow down.

Dean asked, confused, "The hell?" The Impala eventually stopped in front of someone standing in the road.

Sarah looked carefully who it was, in the headlights and saw it was Ruby. "Hell, no," she exclaimed and quickly jumped from the car on her uncle's side as she asked her father if he had the Colt on him. Sarah stormed over to the demon, angrily. "You got some nerve showing up here, Ruby," she told her, coldly.

"Put a cork in it, Sarah," Ruby told her, with her arms folded. "I'm here to talk to Sam," and looked over at him, "Sam, listen to me, there's no time."

Sam shook his head, confused. "For what? What are you talking about?"

"You have to get out of town."

"So this is Ruby, huh?" Dean asked with a smirk and cocked the Colt at the demon. "Never had the pleasure."

Sam held his arms out, a little as he protested, "Dean."

"I was hoping you'd show up again."

Ruby looked over at Dean. "Point that thing somewhere else," she demanded of him.

"Don't tell my dad what to do, you black-eyed jackass," Sarah defended her father.

"Sam, please," Ruby pleaded, turning back to Sam again, ignoring the other two. "Go. Get in the car and don't look back."

"Why should we listen to you?"

"Because I'm trying to save your pathetic asses," she told her.

"Hey, hot stuff," Dean spoke up, "We can take care of a few kitchen witches, thanks."

"I'm not talking about witches, you jackass. Witches are whores." Ruby looked at Sam. "I'm talking about who they serve."

It hit Sam who she was talking about, "Demons."

Dean and Sarah looked over him.

He shifted on his feet, "They get their powers from demons."

"Yeah," Ruby replied. "And there's one here, now."

Dean turned back to Ruby, still pointing the Colt at her. "Oh, what? You mean, besides you?"

"Sam, it knows you're in town. It's gonna come after you and it's way more than you can handle."

Sarah looked up at her uncle, "Come on, are you really buying this crap, Uncle Sam? She is a demon, after all."

"Sarah's right, Sam," Dean agreed.

"Put a leash on your family, Sam," Ruby exclaimed in a frustrating manner, "especially if you want to keep your brother."

Dean looked over at her, at that.

"Dean, Sarah, just chill out, okay?" Sam tried.

"No, no," Dean shot back. "She's messing with your head. God only knows why. That's who they are."

"I'm telling you the truth," Ruby told Sam.

"Yeah, right," Sarah scoffed. "That'll be the day."

Ruby stepped towards Sarah, raising her voice, "I'm sorry, why are you two even a part of this conversation?"

"I don't know, maybe because he's my brother, you black-eyed skank," Dean told her, coldly and Sarah added, "And my uncle."

"Oh, right. You care about your brother so much," Ruby ignored Sarah's comment. "That's why you're checking out in a few months, leaving him and your own kid all alone?"

"Shut up," said Dean.

"At least let me try and save them since you won't be here anymore to do it."

Dean's anger had reached record height by this time. "I said, shut up!" He pointed the Colt about to pull the trigger. Sam stopped him, making Dean fire into the air, wasting a bullet and wrestled from his brother.

Sarah looked over where Ruby was standing when the brothers was staring at each other. "Nice going, Uncle Sam," she told him, sarcastically and stormed back to Impala to climb back into the backseat.

Dean followed suit. "Sarah, I want you up front with me," he told her, shaking his head at his brother. He couldn't believe how Sam could defend a demon. Dean thrust opened his car door and slid in, slamming it shut. Sarah did the same as he started the car.

Sam shook his head at the ground before walking over and climbed into the backseat, sitting on a toy in the process. Raising himself, Sam grabbed it and tossed the toy over to the other side of the seat. The car ride to the motel they were staying in was in silence. No one spoke a word while Sam and Sarah looked through each other's articles to see if the other had missed anything. It wasn't until they walked through the door of their motel room did Dean finally say something.

"The hell were you thinking?"

Sam was the last one in the door so he shut it. "What? What the hell was I thinking?"

Dean turned around to face his brother. "She's a demon, Sam. Period, all right? They want us dead, we want them dead." He told him, angrily before turning on his heels and walked away. Sarah had gone over sit on hers and Dean's bed, rolling her eyes. She knew another fight was escalating again.

"Oh, that's funny," Sam followed after his brother, "I remember that demon chick in Ohio. Casey? You didn't want her dead."

"Well, she wasn't stringing me along like a fish on a hook," Dean replied, removing his jacket, with his back turned and tossed it on the foot of the bed.

"No one's stringing me along."

Dean turned around and gave his brother a "yeah, right" look.

"Look," Sam told him, trying to stay calm, "I know it's dangerous, that _she_ is dangerous. But like it or not, she's useful."

Sarah scoffed, leaning back against the head board with her arms folded, "Yeah, for target practice."

"Sarah's right, Sam. We kill her before she kills us," said Dean.

` "Kill her with what?" Sam asked, "The gun she fixed for us?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Sarah shrugged, her eyebrows raised.

Sam sighed, frustrated. "If she wants us dead, all she has to do is stop saving our lives."

Dean rolled his eyes and walked away again.

"Look, we have to start looking at the big picture. Start thinking of strategies and moves ahead."

Dean headed inside the bathroom to turn on the faucet.

"It's not so simple," Sam continued as Dean splashed water onto his face. "We're not just hunting anymore. We're at war."

Dean turned off the water and grabbed a hand towel, drying his face with it and looked into the mirror at his brother before turning around to ask, "Are you feeling okay?"

Sam let out a groan, rolling his eyes up, towards the ceiling, "Why are you always asking me that?" He sat down on the foot of his bed.

"Because you're taking advice from a demon, for starters," Dean told him, walking over to Sam again. "And by the way, you seem less and less worried about offing people. You know, it used to eat you up inside."

"Yeah? And where has that gotten me?" he asked, looking over at Dean.

"Nothing," Dean told him, hesitating at first, "but it's what you're supposed to do, okay?" He couldn't help feel a pain coming from his stomach and tried to ignore it. "We're supposed to drive in the frigging car and argue about this stuff. You know, you and Sarah go on about the sanctity of life." The pain was growing more unbearable to ignore.

"So, wait," Sam felt confused about what his brother was telling him, "So you're mad because I'm starting to agree with you?"

Dean had looked down at the bed before looking back at his brother. "No, I'm not mad," he said as he sat down on the foot of his bed. "I'm…I'm worried, Sam. I'm worried because you're not acting like yourself."

Sam waved his hand as he said, "Yeah, you're right, I'm not," and leaned on both of his forearms. "I don't have a choice."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look, Dean, you're leaving, right?" he began. "And Sarah and I have to stay here in this craphole of a world. Alone. So the way I see it…if we're gonna make it, and whether you like it or not because I heard what you made Sarah promise. If I'm going to fight this war after you're gone…then I gotta change."

"Change into what?" Dean asked, holding onto his stomach.

Sam paused for a brief second before he responded, "Into you. I gotta be more like you, for Sarah's sake. And there's no walking away from hunt…. What's going on with you?"

The pain in his stomach was way too much now as he grunted. "I don't know," he shook his head.

Sarah bolted up from her seat on the bed and rushed to her father. "Dad, what's wrong?" She had tried to focus on what her uncle had been saying but for the last couple of minutes, she couldn't help notice something wrong with her father, with her mind fixed on him, worried.

Dean groaned, "A bunch of knives inside of me."

"Dean?" Sam also rushed to his brother's side, kneeling beside him.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered, hunched over.

Sarah's anxiety level was soaring to record height as she watched her father in extreme pain. Remembering those three women they met that day, Sarah jumped to her feet and started ransacking the motel room for a hex bag. When Dean guessed the same thing out loud, Sam started the search too.

Using her new knife, Sarah tore into both mattresses when there wasn't anywhere else to look. "Any luck, Uncle Sam?" she called over to Sam.

"No, you?" he called back as he frequently scanned the room for any more potential hiding spots the hex bag could be.

"If I did, do you think I would be asking you?" she snapped at her uncle, unintentional as she dropped to the floor and crawled underneath one of the beds.

When the hex bag was nowhere to be found, Sam grabbed the Colt and hurried out of the motel room to go stop the coven himself, telling Sarah to stay with her father when she tried to call after him. Sarah watched her uncle leave before looking over at her father, who was now on the floor, coughing up blood. She rushed to his side, sitting on her legs as tears flooded her eyes.

"Please hang in there, Dad. Uncle Sam will get those witches. Just hang in there, please, Dad." Sarah tried to plead with him. Dean was groaning in pain, loudly. "Not yet, don't leave us yet, Dad." Sarah could barely control her breathing. "Please, I'll do anything if you just hold on for a little while longer. Oh, please, God. I'll even tell you who my crush is. I don't care if you know I secretly liked Ash and thought he was kind of cute, just please hang in there."

Dean managed to roll over from his back to a crawling position. Sarah tried to help, afraid to leave his side. Suddenly, the door behind her was kicked open. Sarah looked over her right shoulder to see Ruby standing in the doorway as if she was one of _Charlie's Angels_ or something. Quickly turning her whole body on the spot, Sarah tried to protectively shield her father from the demon.

"Back off, you witch!" Sarah shot at her, coldly. "You're not going anywhere near my dad."

"Move it, Sarah," Ruby ordered of her, walking towards them.

"No," she replied, defiantly.

"If you want your precious daddy alive, I suggest you move your sorry, little ass."

Sarah gave a laugh, "Yeah, right. Like I haven't heard that from a demon before." She was holding her left arm out to shield her father, while holding her knife in the other, tightly gripping the knife.

Ruby sent Sarah flying against the wall where she was pinned. Sarah watched, helplessly as she saw Ruby grab her father up and throw him back, onto the bed, where she poured a pouch of dark, red liquid into his mouth. Dean swallowed half while he choked out the rest as Ruby stood up, releasing Sarah. The moment Sarah's feet hit the floor, she dashed over to the bed, leaping up, beside her father and stared, coldly at Ruby.

"What did you do to him?" she demanded.

"I just saved his life, that's what," she shot back at the little girl.

Dean was able to finally sit up, trying to catch his breath.

Sarah crawled over to sit back on her legs, beside him. "Are you okay, Dad?" she asked, calmly at him.

"Yeah," he breathed. "I'm…I'm fine, Baby Girl."

Upon hearing that, she jumped on her father, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Next time you point that gun at me," Ruby told him, "I'm not gonna just disappear. Understand?"

Sarah lifted her head from her father's shoulder as he looked up at Ruby, who then tossed Dean a shotgun. Dean caught it in one hand.

Dean was surprised. "You…saved my life."

"Don't mention it," she told him.

"Oh, don't worry, we won't," Sarah shot at her. "Just because you saved my dad's life, doesn't mean I'm gonna friend you on MySpace. I'm still convinced you want something from us."

Ruby just stared at the little girl, unmoved.

Dean had his left arm around his daughter's waist, rubbing her back, up and down. "What was that stuff?" he asked Ruby and shook his head at the floor, "God, it was ass. It tasted like ass."

Sarah looked at her father, strangely. "Dad, how do you know what ass taste like?"

"Not literal, Baby Girl," he assured her and looked over at Ruby again.

"It's called, witchcraft, short bus." She turned and walked out of the room.

"You're the short bus…" Dean told her after Ruby was gone and whispered, "Short bus."

"Nice comeback, Dad," Sarah teased her father.

Dean looked back at his daughter. "Shut up," he teased her right back. Dean then remembered Sarah's confession and a huge grin appeared on his face.

Sarah looked back at him, confused. "What?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders.

"So the mystery crush is revealed," Dean started up the teasing again.

Sarah remembered her confession as well and fell back, onto the bed, hiding her face that was turning red again.

"So you liked Ash, huh?"

"Leave it alone, Dad," she moaned.

"Isn't that just the cutest thing you ever heard?" Dean then rubbed his daughter's back roughly than he normally did but still in a playful manner.

"Are you two coming or not?" they heard Ruby yell from outside. "Sam is dealing with three witches as we speak, you know."

"She's right, Baby Girl," Dean said and gave her a playful swat on her backside, "Come on. I can tease you about this later. Right now, we have to go help Sam." Father and daughter hopped up from the bed and hurried outside to go help Sam.


	103. Chapter 102-Malleus Maleficarum (part 3)

**Sorry about another short chapter but I didn't want to start another episode since I will be unavailable to update for a whole week, dogsitting again. I can't pass up a chance to earn some cash either. I will look for somewhere that might have wi-fi around there though, but not making any promises. Also, I can't believe I am halfway done with this story! This has to be my longest one I have ever written and I am always amazed when this is still being favored and followed by newcomers, and thank you to those who've been with this story since I posted chapter one. Just want to say, you all are awesome and I hope you continue to enjoy this story! :) **

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 102

Dean and Sarah burst into the house where the coven was taking place. Before they could even blink though, the two of them were thrown through the air and then up against a wall on either side of the room, pinned.

"Three for one, lovely," the short-haired woman smiled, evilly at them as she held up her left hand.

"Wait." Ruby walked in at that moment, holding her own hands up in surrender as she stepped towards the woman who was apparent was possessed. "Please. I just…came to talk."

She was in disbelief at Ruby. "You made it out of the Gate." The woman nodded, "Impressive. It was a bitch of a fight, wasn't it?"

Ruby had put down her hands and was staring at her. "Doors out of hell only open for so long."

"What do you want, Ruby?"

"I've been lost without you," she told her, stepping towards her. "Take me back. That's why I led the Winchesters here." Ruby looked over at Dean who looked up at the ceiling then over at his brother, mouthing, _I told you so_.

"I knew it!" Sarah struggled against the wall. "You're nothing but a lying jackass!"

The demons ignored the Winchesters and continued as if they weren't even there. "They're for you," said Ruby. "As a gift."

"Really?" the other demon questioned.

Ruby moved even closer. "Let me serve you again. I've wanted it. I've wanted you…for so long."

She raised her eyebrows at Ruby, "You were one of my best."

"Okay, this is getting awkward," Sarah admitted, feeling so uncomfortable at the moment. Ruby leaned in and Sarah swore she was going to kiss the other demon until she pulled out her knife Ruby used to save her, several months ago.

"But then again, you always were a lying whore," the other demon had grabbed onto the blade of the knife to stop it and knocked it out of Ruby's hand. Soon a cat fight was started between them.

The fight went on for a few minutes as the Winchesters watched from the sidelines. Soon, Ruby was thrown across the room, onto the ground. The other demon went over to the fireplace where Elizabeth was cowering, terrified and crying. The demon grabbed an iron bar and walked over to Ruby.

"You're really telling me you threw in your chips with Moe, Larry, and Curly here?"

Ruby tried to sit up but the other demon swung at her with the bar, across the head, knocking her back. Being careful not to make a sound, Elizabeth hurried over to the altar and dumped a bowl of colorful-balled, sewing pins onto the table while the demon cat fight continued.

"Come on. Get up," the demon was ordering Ruby. When she didn't, the demon raised her voice, "I said, get up." Ruby continued to lie there, trying to catch her breath. So finally, the demon tossed the iron bar away and walked over to stand over Ruby, kneeling over her to grab ahold of her leather jacket, pulling Ruby up for her. "We've been here before, haven't we?"

The demon smirked over at Sam, who was still pinned to the wall. "She didn't tell you?" she shrugged and looked back at Ruby. "Pretty mortifying, I guess. She was one of mine. I turned her out a long, long time ago." The demon grabbed ahold of the back of her hair, "Ruby here, was a witch. Of course, that was when you were human."

Sarah had started thinking about that. Humans could become demons? Then it came to her, is that what eventually happened to people who sell their souls and go to hell? Was that going to be her father's fate, one day? At that point, Sarah didn't want to even think about it, anymore. Her father would become the very thing they hunted, like Gordon did? She looked over at her father, who was watching and listening to everything. There was no way he could be of demon quality. Sure Dean got too far into his job and could be downright scary like Sam had once said, but deep down, the guy was a good-hearted guy that could never be as cruel as demons were.

Ruby choking brought Sarah out of her thoughts as the demon was speaking in Latin and black smoke was coming from her mouth. Now, Sarah was torn. So far, Ruby had done all these things for her family and her, but on the other hand, she was a demon, herself. Sarah wasn't sure whether to cheer the demon on or curse her out. Then again, Yellow Eyes had pretty much done the same thing since she was five and that was why Sarah couldn't trust Ruby and knew her uncle was probably thinking the same thing she had thought. Yeah, pretty much she knew what was outweighing the other and the torn feeling quickly passed as it had come.

The exorcism was abruptly interrupted when the demon suddenly starting choking as well, making the black smoke return inside Ruby's body. The demon started coughing up blood and soon the sewing needles came out, into her hand, releasing the Winchesters. When the demon realized Elizabeth was doing it, she clenched her right fist into a ball.

Elizabeth clutched her chest, painfully before she fell over, onto the coffee table where the altar was set up. If only Dean was able to do something sooner, but the moment he had his footing, he grabbed Ruby's knife from where it was knocked from her hand and shoved it right into the demon's back, jerking it in a few times. Light shot out of her eyes and mouth as she slowly slid out of Dean's left arm and onto the floor.

Sarah was stumbling to her feet, using a small table that was nearby to balance herself. Dean stumbled over to help her but she assured him she had it under control so he walked over to help his brother up. Ruby told them to leave, that she would clean up the mess. Grabbing the Colt from the floor, the Winchester men stole a look back at Ruby while Sarah was already heading for the door.

Back at the motel, Sarah was resting on the bed, waiting for her uncle to get out of the bathroom while Dean had gone to get drinks from the soda machine. Dean was walking back when all the lights outside started flickering. He stopped, placing the soda cans into his jacket pockets and looked around the parking lot. Nothing was there until he looked over to his left where Ruby was standing in the middle of the parking lot, her arms folded.

"So the devil may care after all," he shrugged as Dean turned to face the demon. "Is that what I'm supposed to believe?"

Ruby took a few steps towards him. "I don't believe in the devil."

Dean shrugged again, raising his eyebrows with a smirk, walking to his left, "Wacky night. So let me get this straight." When he stepped off the sidewalk, Dean walked towards her. "You were human once. You died, you went to hell, and became…" he waved his hand.

"Yeah," she finished and turned around to walk away from him.

"How long ago?"

"Back when the plague was big." Ruby stopped walking.

Dean walked after her, "So all of them? Every damn demon…they were all human once?"

She turned around, slowly to look at him again. "Everyone I've ever met."

Dean raised his eyebrows at that, looking away for a second. "Well, they sure don't act like it."

"Most of them have forgotten what it means," she explained. "Or even if they were. That's what happens when you go to hell, Dean. That's what hell is. Forgetting what you were."

"Philosophy lesson from a demon," Dean said, sliding his hands into his jeans pockets. "I'll pass, thanks."

Ruby shook her head, "It's not philosophy. It's not a metaphor. There's a real fire in the pit…agonies you can't even imagine."

"No, I saw _Hellraiser_, I get the gist," Dean told her.

Ruby rolled her eyes at that and walked away again. "Actually, they got that pretty close." She shrugged, "Except for all the custom leather. Ruby went silent as she stared at the ground before turning around. "The answer is yes, by the way."

"Sorry?" Dean asked.

"Yes, the same thing will happen to you. Might take centuries…but sooner or later, hell will burn away your humanity. Every hell-bound soul…every one turns into something else." She shrugged, "Turns you into us. So yeah," Ruby nodded at him, "yeah, you can count on it." She let that sink in for a moment, before she added, "guess it's a good thing Sarah doesn't have those visions of hell anymore. Can't imagine what that would do to a kid to see her father in that much pain."

Dean stared down at the asphalt. He had completely wiped the fact he learned that his daughter used to have visions of hell. It was true too. It tortured Sarah just watching her grandfather, imagine if it was him who she would see if Sarah still had those. It was twisting Dean's heart every which way, just thinking about it.

Finally, he asked, "There's no way of saving me from the pit, is there?"

Ruby sighed. "No."

Dean closed his eyes at that and nodded before he took a couple steps towards the demon, "Then why did you tell Sam _and _Sarah you could?" he asked of her.

"So they would talk to me," she replied. "You Winchesters can be pretty bigoted. I needed something to help get past the…"

"The demon thing?"

Ruby just stared up at him.

"It's pretty hard to get past," he said.

Ruby scoffed at him. "Look at you…trying to be all stoic." She sighed. "My God, it's heartbreaking."

Dean asked, "Why are you telling me all this?"

She breathed in, "I need your help."

"Help with what?"

"With Sam and Sarah," she told him, directly. "The way you stuck that demon tonight…" Ruby nodded, "…that was pretty tough. They're almost there but not quite. You need to help me get them ready…for life without you…to fight this war on their own." With that said, she turned and walked away.

Dean called after her, "Ruby."

She stopped but did not turn around.

"Why do you want us to win?"

Ruby turned back around and stared at him. "Isn't it obvious?" She looked down for a second and shook her head. "I'm not like them. I don't know why. I…"

Dean turned around to fully face her.

She stared at the ground again. "I wish I was, but I'm not. I remember what it's like."

"What what's like?" he asked.

Ruby looked up at him again. "Being human."

Dean looked down at the asphalt, this time. Life may have sucked, most of the time but there was some good moments he did not want to forget. The important one he didn't want to forget was, of course his daughter. She was the center of his world, how could he forget. No matter what he would endure "downstairs," Dean told himself he would never forget her. He would fight tooth and nail to make sure that didn't happen.

When Dean looked back up, Ruby was gone.


	104. Chapter 103

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 103

Dean opened the door to a local bar, holding it for Sarah as he looked around. He spotted Sam sitting over at the bar, staring down into his drink and walked over. "There you are," Dean shrugged at his brother. "What are you doing?"

Sam shrugged in return. "Having a drink," he replied.

Dean looked towards the ceiling with his eyes then at Sam. "It's two in the afternoon. Drinking whiskey?"

"I drink whiskey all the time."

"No, you don't," he argued.

"What's the big deal?" Sam asked, looking around the bar. "You get sloppy in bars, you hit on chicks all the time. Why can't I?"

Dean looked around the bar. "It's kind of slim picking around here," he shrugged.

Sarah was standing beside her father with her arms folded, watching her uncle, concerned for him. "What's wrong, Uncle Sam?" she asked him.

Sam stared down at his drink again, shaking his head. He looked up at Dean but couldn't do it and stared back at it. "I tried, Dean," he moped.

Dean glanced at the bar then back at his brother. "To do what?"

"To save you."

Dean sighed silently to himself and pulled out a bar stool to sit down, ordering two more whiskeys and a ginger ale.

"I'm serious, Dean," Sam continued as Sarah went over to climb onto a bar stool on the opposite of him.

"No, you're drunk." Dean looked away from his brother.

"I mean, where you're going…what you're gonna become."

He looked back.

Sam scoffed, shaking his head. "I can't stop it." He looked down into his drink. "I'm starting to think even Ruby can't stop it."

Sarah let out a frustrated breath of air, rubbing her hands along her face. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't talk some sense into her uncle and now she was afraid she may have lost her father to the demon too.

Dean looked down at the bar. He hadn't told them about Ruby's confession of not being able to be saved from hell.

"But really, the thing is, no one can save you."

"It's what I've been telling you," Dean told him, staring straight ahead again.

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean, no one can save you because you don't want to be saved," Sam corrected his brother. He shook his head, "I mean, how can you care so little about yourself?"

Dean gave a small snicker to himself and looked ahead. If Sam only knew…

"What's wrong with you?"

He looked back at Sam and soon Dean's phone rang. Dean took it from his pocket and answered it. "Hello?" he said into the phone. "Yes, this is Mr. Sniderson." Dean listened for a moment. His eyebrows rose when the person said Bobby was admitted into a hospital as a comatose patient. "What?" He looked over at Sam, alarmed as he asked what hospital.

Once Dean had the location of the hospital he hung up and the Winchesters quickly left the bar, sliding into the Impala. Dean drove as fast as he could to Pittsburg. The moment they arrived at the hospital, they parked and hurried inside to the front desk to ask where Bobby was being held. A nurse led them to the room and said the doctor would be with them, shortly.

Sarah had rushed in first, standing by Bobby's head. Her eyes scanned over the stiff, unresponsive, old man. Soon, Sarah's eyes started to water as Dean came up behind her, placing his hand on her head. Neither of them said a word.

The doctor walked in after a few minutes with his chart.

"So, what's the diagnosis?" Sam asked the doctor.

"We tested everything we can think to test," the doctor explained as he watched Bobby. "He seems perfectly healthy."

"Except that he's comatose," Dean nodded at Bobby while still looking at the doctor as he was massaging Sarah's head, assuringly.

"Mr. Sniderson, you're his emergency contact. Anything we should know?" he asked. "Any illnesses?"

Dean shook his head, "No, he never gets sick. I mean, he doesn't even catch cold."

The doctor gave a small nod, looking down at the floor with his eyes.

"Doctor," Sam spoke up, "is there anything you can do?"

"Look," he took in a deep breath, "I'm sorry, we don't even know what's causing it so we don't even know how to treat it. He just…" The doctor looked over at Bobby. "…went to sleep and didn't wake up."

Upon listening to the doctor say there was nothing they could do, Sarah turned and hid her face in her father's legs, squeezing them to her. Dean reached down and lifted his daughter up into his arms and comforted her, rubbing her back up and down as Sarah cried into his shoulder, silently.

After leaving the hospital, the Winchesters headed over to the motel where Bobby was staying. They looked around the room to find it was empty. Nothing was lying around or out of place. It was as if no one had even stayed there. That is until Sam looked inside the closet and found Bobby's clothes hanging up.

He pushed the clothes to the sides to reveal several articles and pictures on the wall. Dean and Sarah walked over to get a look for themselves.

Dean chuckled to himself, "Good old Bobby, always covering up his tracks."

"Any of you make heads or tails of any of this?" Sam asked them.

Sarah shook her head, "I got nothing."

Dean reached over and untacked a picture of some kind of plant from the wall, reading it out loud. "Silene capenisis, which, of course, means absolutely nothing to me."

Sarah was still looking over at the wall and spotted a newspaper clipping of an obituary. "There's an obituary up there," she pointed at it, unable to reach it herself.

Sam grabbed it and read it out loud as well. "Dr. Walter Gregg, sixty-four, university neurologist."

"How'd he bite it?" Dean asked, looking up for a short amount of time.

"Um, actually, they don't know," he replied. "They say he just went to sleep and didn't wake up."

Dean grabbed the clipping from his brother and looked at it. "That sound familiar to you?"

"Just like the doctor said about Uncle Bobby," Sarah answered.

"All right, um…." Sam took a deep breath. "Let's say Bobby was looking into the doc's death. You know, hunting after something…"

Dean turned to look at him, "That started hunting him."

Sam agreed.

"All right, you and Sarah stay here. See if you can make heads or tails of any of this," Dean told them.

"What are you gonna do?" Sam asked, leaning on one of the closet doors.

"I'm gonna look into the good doctor myself."

"Why can't I come with you?" Sarah asked her father.

"Because Big Nerd needs Little Nerd's assistance so the process can go a little faster in helping Bobby," Dean told her, teasingly.

Sarah glared up at her father. "Oh ha ha, that was so funny I forgot to laugh," she said, sarcastically.

Dean smiled at her and leaned down to kiss his daughter's head, reminding her that he loved her before he left.

While Dean handled the field research, Sam and Sarah sorted through Bobby's research. When an hour came and went, Sarah stated she had saw a library on the same street and headed down there herself after a pleading frenzy on the phone with her father.

Heading down the stairs and out the main doors of the motel Sarah walked down the street where the public library was. She climbed the few steps and pulled open the glass door before going inside. The library was packed with college students studying or working on homework as Sarah made her way along the shelves of books and pulled out what she thought she needed, standing on a stepstool for a couple.

One in particular Sarah had to still stand on her tiptoes as she reached up for it. Reaching higher and higher as she could until another, longer arm appeared and grabbed the book she wanted.

"Is this the one you wanted?" a male's voice asked. Sarah turned to look at the person the voice belonged to. He looked like he should have been in middle school than in college. He had blond, short hair but was long enough to cover parts of his ears and a rare trait of dark blue eyes. The guy also still had his boyish freckles along his upper cheeks and nose and by the sound of his voice, it didn't even seem like he had hit puberty yet. Sarah couldn't help stare at him with her mouth gaping open while the guy continued to stand there, holding the book out to her. "Don't you want it?" the guy repeated.

Sarah snapped out of it, shaking her head. "Yeah, sorry about that, I usually don't stare like that. I was raised to believe staring is rude." She reached out and grabbed the thick, heavy book.

"No problem," he smiled. "I'm Matt."

"Nice to meet you, Matt," Sarah smiled at him. "I'm Sarah." She jumped down off the stool and placed the book on top of her pile before picking them all up.

"Hey, Sarah, those look heavy for you. Want me to carry them for you?" Matt offered.

Sarah looked at him surprised. "Uh, sure, thanks," she thanked him and handed Matt the stack of books.

"So, do you go to school here?" Matt asked as they walked towards one of the individual, private rooms in the back of the library.

"Uh, yeah," she lied, trying to play it cool. Sarah could feel her palms getting sweaty and tried to secretly dry them on her jeans. "You?"

"Yeah, first year. I graduated youngest and top of my high school class last year and earned a scholarship to college," he explained.

"Wow, I bet your parents were proud."

"They are. My dad keeps my high school diploma on the wall in our living room and my mom likes to talk about me to the other women she plays Bridge with."

Sarah stared down at the floor as she walked. "Wish my mom had bragged about me to her friends," she said.

"Had?" Matt asked, curious.

"She died," Sarah explained.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Sarah," he told her, sincerely.

She shrugged, "It's okay. My mom and I wasn't that close anyway. Sometimes I wish we had gotten along though but I have mother figure I can turn to now."

"That's good," he smiled a nice smile Sarah couldn't help look at.

Sarah shook her head again when she realized she had been staring at him once more.  
"Sorry, I really don't mean to stare," she looked away, trying to hide the fact she was blushing.

Matt shrugged, "Don't worry about it. My dad says I have his good looks." He laughed at what he had said.

Sarah did too. "Sounds like something my dad would say. He's a real lady's man, or so he says anyway. The guy could charm any girl, I swear."

"He never remarried after your mom passed away?" he asked.

"No, no," she shook her head, "my parents were never married. I lived with my mom until I was seven up 'til she died then I came to live with my dad."

"May I ask how old you are?" Matt asked.

"Uh…nine…teen," she lied.

Matt stared at her. "You look kind of short for nineteen," he told her.

Of course Sarah had gotten offensive over being called short. "I have a height disorder, thank you very much," she shot at him but still kept her voice down.

"Oh, sorry." Sarah couldn't help notice he was turning a shade of red, also trying to hide it. "It's just I was hoping you were around my age so we could maybe go to the sandwich shop across the street later after you finish studying."

Sarah stopped in her tracks when she heard that. "Wait," she finally said. "You're not asking me out…on a…. Are you?"

Matt had stopped walking when he saw Sarah had stopped and looked back. "Yeah, but if you're nineteen." He seemed disappointed now, his shoulders slumped. "It's hard to fit in when you're the youngest one here, even if you are intelligent."

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen," he replied.

"I lied about being nineteen because I… I thought you were nineteen," she told him.

He perked back up at that. "Really? So how old are you?"

Sarah tried to think of a descent age. She couldn't say fourteen and she definitely could give her real age, the boy was too cute. Finally, she blurted out, "I'm twelve."

"Oh, that makes a little more sense why you still look like a kid. So what do you say?" Matt held his left knee up to keep the books in place. "Meet at the sandwich shop at two?"

Sarah thought on it. She desperately wanted to say yes but her family was in the middle of a job, to save Bobby no less. If it was any other job, Sarah may have decided to ditch and take Matt up on his offer. Finally, she sighed. "I can't, Matt. I'm sorry"

He asked, "How come?"

"My uncle's in the hospital right now, comatose. My other uncle and I have to meet my dad there later," Sarah explained. "Otherwise I would."

Matt just shrugged, "Don't worry about it. How about breakfast before class tomorrow?" They had reached one of the private study rooms.

"I should probably check with my dad first. He…drives me to school."

"Okay. Here," Matt walked in and set the books on the table and walked back over to take hold of her right hand, taking a pen from his jeans pocket and wrote a phone number on it. "This is my cell. Call me when you talk to your dad. I'd like to get to know you, Sarah. See you later." Matt waved as he walked away.

Sarah was so speechless she almost forgot to thank him for carrying her books again. "Thanks again, Matt," she called after him, waving. Sarah watched him until he was gone and looked back down at her hand that had Matt's phone number. It then hit her, "What the hell is wrong with me lately? First Uncle Sam gets drunk in a bar and now I'm picking up boys?" She went inside the room, shutting the door behind her and sat down at the table to figure out what Bobby was hunting.


	105. Chapter 104

**I was gonna rewrite this chapter before I upload it but I decided to leave it. **

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 104

Sarah met up with Sam outside the library and stated heading back to the hospital. As they crossed the street, Sarah couldn't help stare at the phone number again. Sam noticed out of the corner of his eye.

"What's that?" he asked, curious, carrying his half of the research under his right arm.

Sarah quickly hid her hand in her jacket pocket, "Nothing."

Sam couldn't help grin at his niece, "It's not a boy's phone number, is it?" He couldn't help catch her turning red.

"No, I ran out of paper and had to write some notes on my hand," she lied.

"Okay, Peanut," he laughed, "Whatever you say."

"It's the truth," Sarah spat.

"It's okay, I believe you." Truth was, Sam had seen a few numbers before she moved her hand away. "Why don't we grab a bite to eat on the way?"

"Great," Sarah replied. "I'm starving."

Sam and his niece walked over to a sandwich shop where he opened the door, holding it for her before he followed her in.

The moment Sarah walked in her eyes darted over at the soda fountain were none other than Matt was standing, placing a lid on top of his drink. She quickly turned around and started trying to push her uncle back out the door. "On second thought, I am not that hungry anymore," she said. "Besides, Dad is probably wondering where we are and we shouldn't keep him waiting, right?"

"No, I called your dad before I left the motel and told him we might pick up lunch on the way here," Sam assured her. "Come on, Peanut."

"Well, I think I saw a Taco Bell closer to the hospital. Why don't we go there?" Sarah tried to suggest as she continued to try and shove her uncle out the door.

Sam wasn't even moving an inch. "Peanut, you know what Mexican food does to my digestive system. Besides, sandwiches are healthier for you." He moved around his niece and walked over to the cashier.

Sarah bit her lip and tried to duck behind a large, potted, fake plant as she watched Matt. When she saw he was coming her way, Sarah dashed over to hide behind her uncle who was telling the young woman at the register what he wanted. Finally he looked down at Sarah who was peeking around his legs over at Matt, who was sitting down at a booth right next to the door. "Are you eating or not, Peanut?" Sam asked his niece.

Trying to stay hidden, she turned her head to look up at the menu. "Uh, I'll have a steak and cheese sandwich," she told the cashier, holding onto her uncle's pant legs and turned back to Matt.

The cashier told Sam the total and he handed over the cash, getting change back in return and their cups. Sam pulled out one of them and handed a cup to Sarah when his wallet was put away. He then walked over to the soda fountain to fill his cup up.

Sarah hurried to keep up, continuing to use her uncle's long legs as a shield.

Finally, Sam asked, "Peanut, what are you doing?"

"Nothing, can't a girl hug her uncle?" she asked, trying to sound offended.

"Well, yeah, I guess." He noticed his niece was staring over at someone and looked over to see for himself and smiled when he saw Matt sitting there. "Is that the boy who gave you the phone number on your hand?"

"I said that was notes, Uncle Sam and I am not staring at any boy," she told him.

"Whatever you say, Peanut." Sam couldn't help want to have a little fun with his niece like his brother had done. When they had their food, he suggested they eat there and walked over to the other side of the sandwich shop to sit at a table.

Sarah had to follow so she could continue to use her uncle as a shield. "Uncle Sam, what are you doing?" she asked.

He shrugged, "I figured since we have time we would eat here."

"Eat here? Are you nuts?" Sarah raised her voice louder than she expected and quickly covered it. "I really think we should meet up with Dad. Uncle Bobby could be in very deep trouble as we speak."

"I know, Peanut," he assured her and sat down, "but we still haven't figured out how we're going to save him and you can't think well on an empty stomach anyway."

Sarah quickly dashed around the table and tried to hide behind her drink. "So Sarah," Sam said, obnoxiously loud but not too loud the whole sandwich shop heard. "How was the library?"

"Dude, shut up," Sarah hissed, annoyed but it was too late. Matt had looked up when he heard her name and looked over at their table. Since the cup wasn't that wide, he could see part of Sarah and smiled. He grabbed his tray and walked over as Sam was taking out the food from the bag.

"Hey, Sarah," Matt greeted, cheerfully. "Wasn't expecting to see you here."

Sarah tried to play it cool, trying not to feel embarrassed having her uncle there with her after what he just did. "I, uh, wasn't expecting to come. We were on our way to the hospital when my uncle here suggested we grab lunch." She glared over at her uncle.

"Hey there, pleased to meet you. I'm Sam," Sam held out his right hand for Matt to shake.

Matt accepted the handshake, "Hey, Sam. I'm Matt," he replied with a smile.

"So how do you two know each other?" Sam asked, curious before taking a bite of his sandwich as Sarah turned bright red.

"We met a couple hours ago over at the library," Matt explained still standing which Sam offered him a seat across from him, next to Sarah. "I helped Sarah carry her books for her."

Sam smiled over at his niece. "Isn't that nice of you," he told Matt.

Finally, Sarah kicked her uncle under the table and muttered, "Shut up, Uncle Sam," to him.

"It was nothing, happy to do it," Matt shrugged, oblivious to the uncle and niece quarrel. "I want to take Sarah to breakfast in the morning before class as well." He turned to Sarah who couldn't be any redder now as she tried to hide it behind her sandwich. "Did you hear from your dad yet, Sarah?"

"Uh, no, not yet," she replied and caught Sam grinning like the Chestsire Cat and turned back the boy. "So Matt, you go to school around here?" Sam asked. The two of them talked for twenty minutes while the three of them ate lunch. Sarah was praying for her father to call, asking where they were but the call never came. However, Matt's cell phone rang instead, his mother reminding him he had violin lessons in an hour.

They stood up and walked each other outside the sandwich shop to part ways.

"It was really nice getting to know you both," Matt told them. "And I hope we can see each other in the morning, Sarah."

"Yeah, me too and without anybody else," she scowled up at her uncle from the corner of her eye.

Matt laughed at that, "Same here. Call me later, Sarah." He waved good-bye as he turned to leave.

Once Matt was gone, Sarah turned on her heels and stormed away. Sam followed after his niece.

"Well he was a nice boy," he smiled.

"I am going to kill you later when there are no witnesses, Uncle Sam," she told him, glaring ahead of her.

Sam laughed. "I had to, Peanut. It was too much…"

Sarah stopped in her tracks and shot around to fully face her uncle. "Look, I know you're trying to be like Dad for me for when he's gone but understand this and understand it carefully: you are not Dad! You never were and you never will be, got it?"

Sam's smile quickly left his face when his niece told him he wasn't her father. "I was just…"

"I don't care, okay? Yeah, you can be a second father to me because yeah, you basically are but don't try and be like the first." Sarah shook her head, "As close as we are, Uncle Sam, we will never have the same kind of relationship that Dad and I have." She then turned and started walking again.

Sam stood there, hurt a little inside. He really did want to help his niece be able to cope with having her father gone by trying to be like Dean. No one could replace a parent's place in a kid's life though, no matter how hard they tried. Not long after Sarah started walking, Sam followed after her, no one saying a word.

When they arrived at the hospital, the two of them went up to Bobby's room where Dean was sitting in a chair at his bedside. Sarah went over and wrapped her right arm around him, resting her head against her father's upper, left arm.

Dean pulled his left arm out between them and wrapped it around his daughter's waist, kissing her forehead before looking over at his brother.

Sam walked more into the room, "How is he?"

Dean ran his other hand over his mouth and stood up. "No change. What you got?" he walked over to Sam who was lying out all of his research.

"Well, considering what you told me about the doc's experiments Bobby's wall is starting to make a hell of a lot more sense."

"How so?"

Sam picked up the picture of the plant. "This plant, _Silene capensis,_" he explained, "is also known as African Dream Root. It's been used by shaman and medicine men for centuries."

"Let me guess. They dose up…" Dean nodded and looked up at his brother, "bust out the didgeridoos, start kicking around the hackey."

Sarah had pulled herself up onto the foot of Bobby's bed to see for herself, sitting back on her legs. "Actually, Dad it's used for dreamwalking so they could see what someone else is dreaming about," she explained.

"But that's just the tip of the iceberg," Sam said and moved on through his research.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"This Dream Root is some serious mojo," he continued to explain. "You take enough of it with enough practice, you can become a regular Freddy Krueger. You can control anything."

Sarah agreed. "You can manipulate dreams the way you want them," she said.

"And killing people in their sleep?" Dean guessed.

"For example," replied Sam.

Dean looked over at Bobby as Sam continued, "So let's say this doc was testing this stuff on his patients, Tim Leary-style."

Dean nodded at the bed, "Someone gets pissed at him, decides to give him a little dream visit…" he looked back at Bobby, "he goes nighty-night."

Sarah asked, "But what about Uncle Bobby? If the killer came after him, why isn't he dead yet?"

"I don't know," he said, still looking at Bobby. "Come on." Sam closed his folder with all his research in it and followed after his brother. "So how do we find our homicidal sandman?"

"Could be anyone," Sam said as they walked down a hallway.

"Yeah? Anyone who knew the doctor, had access to his dream shrooms."

"Maybe it was one of his patients?" Sarah shrugged, walking on the opposite side of her father from her uncle.

"Possible," Dean replied. "But his research is pretty sketchy. I mean…" he shrugged, "I don't know how many patients he had, or who all of them were."

Sam let out a sigh.

Dean asked, "What?"

"In any other case, we'd be calling Bobby and asking him for help right now."

Dean thought on that, staring at the floor and immediately stopped in his tracks, grabbing Sam's right arm. "You know what, you're right."

Sam turned around to face his brother, "What?"

"Let's go talk to him," Dean told him.

"I have heard that some comatose patients respond to a specific voice or music," Sarah pointed out.

"No, Sarah, I mean use some Dream Root to go inside Bobby's head."

She asked, "What?"

"You heard me," he said.

"You wanna go dreamwalking inside Bobby's head?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged, "Yeah. Maybe we can help."

"We have no idea what's crawling around in there," he shook his head.

"How bad could it be?" Dan asked.

"Bad."

"Dude, it's Bobby."

Sam gave in, "Yeah, you're right."

Sarah jumped in, "Are you forgetting one minor little detail? We don't have African Dream Root unless you have a dealer I'm unaware of."

Dean thought some more, chewing on his lip. "Crap," he realized.

Sam asked, What?"

"Bela."

"Bela?" both Sam and Sarah questioned before they realized it too. "Crap." They looked at each other, confused how they did that twice.

"You're actually suggesting we ask her for a favor?" Sam asked of his brother.

Dean shrugged, "I'm feeling dirty just thinking about it, but yeah." He then walked around his brother and continued walking.

Sarah hurried after her father, trying to shoot out different suggestions that might help them besides asking Bela for help as Sam stood in the same spot and sighed before he too followed after them.


	106. Chapter 105

**Episode titles will resume when this one is finished. There is a character limit and I couldn't fit this whole episode title in. This is_ Dream a little Dream of me_**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 105

On the drive back to the motel Sam sat in the passenger seat staring out the window. He hadn't been able to shake his niece's words from his mind. It was as if they were etched there forever and stung more than a rattlesnake's bite. He knew Sarah was suffering about her father going to hell like he was but Sam never thought she could ever be that cruel.

Dean had noticed his brother was a little spacey. "Dude, what's wrong with you?" he asked as he drove with his left hand.

Sam glanced at him for a second before looking back out the window. "Nothing," he said. Sam knew Sarah would be in trouble with her father if Dean knew what she had done but Sam being the nice guy he was, didn't want to bust his niece especially when this was a hard time for them both.

When they got the motel, Sam tried to focus on his reading while Dean tried to get a hold of Bela. He found it hard as his niece's words echoed throughout his mind. Dean was pacing around the room, calling Bela over and over. After the tenth try, he noticed his brother staring off into space again.

"Okay, what the hell is wrong with you now?" Dean asked of his brother.

Sam shook his head, trying to shake his niece's voice from his head. "Nothing, Dean. I'm fine," he lied, shifting in his seat to try and continue reading.

"No, you're not, Sam. You're more spacey than you've ever been. Now tell me what's bothering you."

Sam sighed, continuing to look down at his book, "It's just something between me and Sarah, okay?"

Sarah had been lying on her stomach, reading through the doctor's notes over on the bed. She perked up when her uncle said her name and it suddenly dawned on her just how harsh she had sounded to him and sat up onto her legs to swallow the lump that was now forming in her throat.

"Dad," she said.

Dean looked over at his daughter, "In a minute, Baby Girl. I'm talking to Sam." He turned his head back to his brother.

"I think I know what's wrong with Uncle Sam."

He looked back at her. Sam shot his head around surprised his niece was going to admit what she had told him earlier. Sarah crawled backwards on the bed before she walked over and put her arms around his waist.

"I'm sorry for what I said, Uncle Sam. I didn't really mean it, I was angry and sometimes I say hurtful things when I'm angry," she told him, apologetically.

Sam put his right arm around her and kissed her head. "That really broke my heart what you said, Peanut. I understand I took it too far and embarrassed you in front of that boy but that still wasn't an excuse to tell me I would never be your dad like that."

Sarah looked down at the floor, sadly when they heard Dean clear his throat. She and Sam looked over at him.

"Someone tell me what the hell is going on," he told the two of them. "Sarah Lynn Winchester, what did you tell your uncle?"

Sarah swallowed another lump in her throat as she stared up at her father who stood there with his arms folded tightly. "I…well…" she stammered, nervously. "Uncle Sam was embarrassing me like you embarrass me, sometimes, in front of this boy and I got really angry and…" Sarah looked over at her uncle before looking downward. "And I yelled at him, telling him how he would never be you and how we would never have a relationship like you and I have, harshly."

Sam rubbed her back to comfort her, "It's okay, Dean. There was no harm, okay? Just let me handle it," he told his brother so he could continue his lecture.

Dean uncrossed his arms. "No harm, Sam? This was obviously eating you up and this should not go unpunished when Sarah knows not to talk to you like that, regardless if she was pissed off or not."

"Dean…" Sam tried to object but Dean was not hearing his brother out and had started walking over to the bed closest to the door.

"Come here, Sarah Lynn," he told his daughter in a stern voice.

"But…" she tried to object as well.

"Dean, why can't this be just between me and Sarah?" Sam asked.

Dean looked back over his right shoulder, "Are you gonna do it?"

"No, Sarah doesn't need it. She was hurting, Dean. She apologized already."

"Only because I had reminded her. If I hadn't said anything Sarah wouldn't have said anything," he told Sam. To his daughter, "you have to the count of three to get your ass over here, Sarah Lynn."

Sarah looked from her father over to her uncle, giving him a pitiful look which melted Sam's heart. "Dean, it hasn't been easy for either of us and you know Sarah has the Winchester temper," he continued to defend his niece.

"I am aware of all that, Sam but again there is no excuse for her lashing out and talking to you that way. I am losing my patience, Sarah Lynn. Get your ass over here now," Dean raised his voice a little but tried to keep his cool.

Finally, Sarah walked over to her father, reluctantly. She stopped beside where he sat and tried to give him her best puppy dog look but Dean was not about to let up. Instead he told her to lay across his lap.

"No, Dad," she shook her head, backing away. "Please don't spank me. I apologized to Uncle Sam. I didn't mean it, I swear. I was angry with him and it just shot out of my mouth. Please, I really am sorry, Dad."

"I don't care, Sarah," Dean told her. "The point is you said it. Now do as I say before I put you over my knee myself."

Sarah let out a whimper before she finally complied and moved closer to climb onto her father's lap, slowly. She felt Dean hold onto her waist and soon felt a painful smack to her bottom, followed by more not long after. Sarah cried out with each smack, gripping his left leg in both of her hands.

Dean didn't even ask Sam to leave this time. He didn't care if Sam heard or not. Sam tried not to listen though and focused on the book he still had open in his hands but his niece's cries tore at his heartstrings. It was hard on Sam when he had been in Dean's place when Sarah gave him a hard time months ago. He never wanted to have to punish her since Dean told Sam he could if needed and hoped the day wouldn't come. When it did though, Sam had to fight to follow through on his threats.

Soon, Dean let up and lifted his crying daughter to her feet. Sarah immediately moved her hands to rub her bottom, trying to rub the sting out. Dean leaned forward and took a hold of her chin, gently, "look at me, Sarah Lynn. I better not hear about this again. Do you understand me?"

Tears were pouring down both sides of her face as she cried.

"Do you understand me, Sarah Lynn?" he repeated, sterner.

She nodded. "Yes, sir," Sarah managed to choke out in between sobs.

"You do not talk to talk to anyone like that unless it's someone we're hunting then I could care less. Do you understand me?"

Sarah nodded again, "Yes, sir."

Dean let go of her chin, sitting up straight, "You are grounded for the next month, this time and I want a thousand-word essay on why you love your uncle. Got it?" He didn't know why he added the essay to her punishment, even he was surprised but Dean didn't change his mind on it. It actually sounded like a good idea to him.

Sarah wiped her runny nose on her bare arm. "A whole month?" she asked her father. "But that's not fair."

Dean stood up from the bed when he heard his phone ring from where he had set it on the table and went to answer it. "It wasn't fair what you told Sam either," he plainly shrugged. "And I want the paper handwritten too." Dean picked up his phone and answered it.

Sarah stood in the same spot as she continued to rub her bottom. Sam twisted halfway in his seat and held his right arm out to her, offering comfort which she bolted over to him and cried into his stomach. He rubbed his niece's back up and down before kissing the top of her head and continued rubbing her back.

When her cries were lowered to small sniffles after a few minutes, Sam lifted Sarah onto his lap to finish his lecture that Dean had interrupted. "Peanut, I know you feel that you should hold everything in but we're both dealing with this together. That's why all of that came out the way it did."

Sarah rubbed at her left eye, holding her head against her uncle's chest.

"It's gonna be just the two of us and we can't have a closed connection between us." Sam shrugged, "I'm not saying we should have a relationship like you have with your father. I never intended that. I know I'm not the person your dad is but I still care about you the way he does. I was only looking out for you and okay, I admit that maybe I took it too far when I embarrassed you in front of Matt. I wasn't doing it to be mean though. I was just having fun with you."

Dean had already hung up with Bela, frustrated she wouldn't help them and heard Matt's name mentioned. "Who's Matt?" he asked, still standing in the same spot.

Sam ignored his brother. "I promise I won't do that again but I want you come to me if something else starts building up inside you. Okay? Can you do that so we won't have a repeat of today?"

Sarah nodded against him. "I really do apologize for telling you, you will never be like Dad. You're right, I shouldn't have said it, and Dad's right too, it wasn't fair for you."

"Thanks, Peanut," Sam replied. "I appreciate it."

"Hello," Dean interrupted them. "Who's Matt?"

Sam and Sarah looked back at him and exchanged looks between each other.

"Is there something else you both aren't telling me?" he asked.

Sam shrugged at his niece, "May as well tell him about your date tomorrow."

Sarah started blushing again when her uncle said that out loud and tried to hide it in his chest. Sam smiled at her and rubbed her back again.

Dean had raised his eyebrows when he heard the word, date. "Date?" he asked, walking towards his brother and daughter. "What date and who is this Matt?"

"Tell him, Peanut," Sam urged his niece, "your dad deserves to know his little girl's growing up."

Sarah agreed and slid down from her uncle's lap and turned around to face her father. She stared at the floor for a minute, rubbing the back of her head. "I may have met a boy today at the library," she said.

Dean folded his arms again. "I'm sorry, come again?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.

Sarah looked back at her uncle before turning back to her father and explained how she had met Matt, as well as him asking her out for breakfast.

"I'm sorry, I believe I made it perfectly clear you weren't supposed to date until you were my age," Dean reminded his daughter.

Sarah glanced at the floor out of the corner of her eye before looking back at him. "You were serious about that?"

"Oh you bet I was," he said in a serious tone. "You're only nine, Sarah and he's fourteen."

"So? You lie about your age to girls all the time," she pointed out.

"That's different."

"How is that different?" Sarah asked, folding her own arms now.

"I'm an adult, you're a kid," he told her.

"But Dad, Matt is really nice and I really want to see him at least one last time before we leave. I'm not one to beg since it's kind of demeaning but…" Sarah threw herself on the floor at his feet, ignoring the slight pain from landing on her knees and folded her hands to stare up at her father. "Pleeeeeeeessseeeee?"

Dean rolled his eyes up at the ceiling, "Sarah, get off the floor. That looks really ridiculous."

"Come on, Dean," Sam tried to stick up for his niece. "I met the kid and debriefed him for you. He really is a nice guy. Besides, don't you want to be around for Sarah's first official date?"

Dean took in a really deep breath and breathed it through his noise, aggressively loud. "Fine," he finally gave in after thinking about it for a moment, "but only if you get off the floor and quit begging like a pathetic dog."

Sarah quickly shot up. "With pleasure," she said. "So I can go?"

"Yes, you can go on your date but only after we finish this job."

Sarah suddenly started cheering, loudly and hugged her father's legs, thanking him over and over again. He tried his best to keep it together, wanting desperately to cry. His little girl was definitely growing up. However, Dean may have agreed to it, he was going to make certain that she was going to be supervised whether she knew about it or not.

Later that night, Bela shocked them by showing up with the African Dream Root after all. Dean declined her offer to help them inside Bobby's head and she ended up storming out of the motel room. Sam went out and picked up supplies for the Dream Root concoction and mixed them together.

"Hold up," Dean told his brother when he saw him bringing over three mugs of the stuff where he sat on the bed.

Sam asked, "What?"

"Sarah's not coming with us either," he said.

"Yes I am," Sarah argued. "I want to help Uncle Bobby too, you know."

"No, you're not and if you fight me on this we're gonna have a repeat of earlier." Dean gave his daughter a serious look as he took his mug from Sam.

Sarah folded her arms, looking away, sulking.

Sam placed the third mug over on the table and walked back over to sit on the other bed and handed Dean some of Bobby's hair which they added to the concoction and chugged it down. Not long after that, the brothers passed out.

Sarah looked over at her father when she felt the bed shake from him falling back and crawled over to check to see if he really was asleep. She lifted his right eyelid for a couple seconds before letting go and sat back on her legs.

"This sucks," she said to no one. Sarah looked over at the mug over on the table. Crawling backwards on the bed, she stood up and walked around to climb onto the bed her uncle was lying on and crawled over to him, glancing around for the envelope. Catching a small bulge in his shirt pocket, Sarah pulled it out not even afraid of Sam waking up.

Taking the envelope over to the table, Sarah dropped a pinch of Bobby's hair into the mug and shook it in a circle like when she used to make chocolate milk and it had sifted after a while. After setting the envelope on the table, she picked up the mug by the handle and quickly chugged it down, trying hard not to throw it back up. Sarah looked around, setting the mug on the table, not feeling any different and noticed it had started raining outside.

She walked over to the window and noticed it was raining upside down. "What the hell? Am I in a Dr. Seuss book?" Sarah looked behind her and saw she wasn't in the motel room any longer. It took a moment before she realized it was Bobby's house without the mess.

Not seeing Bobby, nor her father or uncle, Sarah went out into the small hallway where the stairs was, eventually crossing paths with Dean who had come from the kitchen.

Dean wasn't pleased at all. "I hope for your sake, Bobby is dreaming of you," he told her.

"Uh," Sarah stuttered, "yes, I am a figment of this dream. I did not drink the Dream Root and come in here…aw crap." She realized that response was actually a confession.

He let out an annoyed sigh. "I told you, you were not coming in here with us."

Suddenly, they heard Bobby's voice from inside a closet, "Who's out there?" Both Dean and Sarah looked over at the door.

Dean touched his finger to his lips towards Sarah and carefully approached the closet door, touching his hand to it. "Bobby, you in there?" he asked.

"Dean?"

"Yeah, it's me. Open up."

The closet door clicked and opened. Bobby appeared in the doorway, staring at Dean before carefully walking out of the closet, looking around like he was searching for someone. "How in the hell did you find me?"

"We got our hands on some of that Dream Root stuff," Dean explained.

Sarah moved closer to the men, "Are you okay, Uncle Bobby?"

"No, I'm not okay. Dream Root?" Bobby continued scanning the room like something was going to jump out at him.

"Dr. Gregg, the experiments," Dean reminded him.

Bobby looked at Dean for a moment. "What the hell are you talking about?" The lights started to flicker, making Bobby dash back to the closet, "Hurry."

Dean grabbed a hold of him, "Woah, woah, woah. What's going on?"

"She's coming," he told him.

"Okay, you know this is a dream, don't you?" Dean asked.

Bobby breathed heavily. "Wha-what are you, crazy?"

"This is a dream, Bobby," Dean raised his voice to the older hunter, "none of this is real."

"Does that look made up?" he asked, pointing behind Dean and Sarah.

The two of them turned around to see a short woman, bloody and wearing a white nightgown, walk into the hallway where Sarah had come from. Bobby tried to go back into the closet but it slammed shut in his face, preventing him from doing so. Dean and Sarah looked back in his direction, surprised as Bobby tried to get it open.

"Who is that?" Sarah asked, now looking between the woman and Bobby.

"She's…" Bobby tried to say. "She's my wife."

Dean and Sarah looked back at the woman. Bobby moved into the kitchen as his wife, Karen slowly stepped towards him, staring him down as she blamed him for her death. Bobby tried to apologize with her until Dean tried to make him snap out of it, that she wasn't real and dragged Bobby into the other room and slammed the sliding doors shut. Dean pinned himself to the doors to hold them as Karen banged on the other side, angrily. Sarah was hugging Bobby's leg, trying to snap him out of it too.

Dean continued, "I'm telling you, all of it. Your house, your wife, it's a nightmare."

Sarah agreed, "Yeah, Uncle Bobby. Snap out of it before something bad happens."

Dean looked over and yanked off a black cord from a desk lamp beside him and tied it around the door handles as Karen continued to bang on the door, screaming out.

"I killed her," Bobby muttered in a guilty tone.

"Bobby," Dean said as he finished tying the cord, "This is your dream that you can wake up. I mean, hell, you can do anything." He looked over at the older man.

Bobby was walking towards the door, defeated. Sarah moved but walked beside him. "Just leave me alone. Let her kill me already."

When the cord was tied, Dean dashed over and grabbed a hold of the front of Bobby's vest, "Look at me. You gotta snap out of this," he told Bobby, sternly, "You gotta snap out of this now. You're not gonna die. I'm not gonna let you. You're like a father to me."

Sarah looked over at Dean when she heard him say that last part as he continued to stare at Bobby.

"You gotta believe me, please," Dean continued.

Bobby looked over at the door then back at Dean. "I'm dreaming?" he asked.

"Yes, this is all just a dream," Sarah replied.

"Now take control of it," Dean told him.

Bobby inhaled and exhaled repeatedly. He shut his eyes and suddenly, the noise on the other side of the door stopped. Sarah walked over and put her right ear to the door but nothing was heard. Dean walked over and gently pushed her out of the way to untie the cord and opened the doors. No one was there.

"I don't believe it," Bobby muttered out loud.

Dean let out a deep breath at the floor, relieved and looked back over his right shoulder. "Believe it," he said. "Now will you please wake up?"

Suddenly, the Winchesters bolted into a sitting position back in the motel room, breathing like they had ran a marathon. Sam and Dean exchanged looks between each other as Sarah sat over on the floor beside the table. She looked back behind her and was relieved to see her father and uncle awake too. However, once Dean had his breath back after a few minutes, he gave her a look that said to get her ass over there.


	107. Chapter 106

**If anyone prays, say a prayer for me and my roommates. We're struggling so much right now...hopefully writing this while I was depressed didn't hurt the chapter.**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 106

The Winchesters met up with Bobby who was now awake and discussed the guy, Jeremy who had gotten into Bobby's dreams in the first place and dug out his worst nightmare, making him comatose. Sam, Sarah, and Bobby also learned that now Jeremy had DNA of Dean as well. The four of them spent the next two days trying to find where Jeremy was, along with Bela's help much to Dean and Sarah's protests. Unfortunately the spirit world wasn't "picking up the phone" and was no help there either.

Dean with having no sleep was very irritable and on the very edge, snapping at the tiniest comment. Finally, tired and out of ideas, he pulled over to the side of the road hidden from sight and leaned back in his seat to fall asleep.

Sam and Sarah did not understand what he was doing. Jeremy could come after him and he was going to sleep? "What are you doing?" Sam asked.

Dean shifted in his seat, closing his eyes, "Taking myself a long over-due nap."

"Are you nuts?" Sarah asked her father. "What if that Jeremy guy gets you?"

"That's the idea."

"Excuse me?" Sam asked of his brother.

Dean lifted his head long enough to say, "Come on, man, we can't find him, so let him come to me."

"On his own turf? Where he's basically a god?"

"I can handle it," he mumbled with his head back down and his eyes closed again.

Sam tried to find something to say before he reached over and plucked out some of his brother's short, blond hair, "Not alone, you can't."

"Ow," Dean shot his head up and his hand automatically went to where Sam had plucked from, looking over at him. "What are you doing?" Dean demanded.

"Coming in with you," he replied, looking at the hairs in his fingers.

"I want to, too," Sarah told the brothers, leaning over the front seat.

"Absolutely not," Dean objected. "I don't want any one of you rooting around in my head.

"Too bad," Sam told him. "Peanut, you stay here and act as lookout."

Sarah sat back, folding her arms tight across her chest. She wanted to argue so badly but did not want to be over her father's knee a third time during that hunt so she stayed silent. Instead, she reached into her jacket and pulled out her flashlight, turning it on and grabbed her spiral notebook up from the seat beside her to continue working on her thousand-word essay.

After a while, the Impala was silent as she thought about all the nice things Sarah loved about her uncle and wrote them down, her heels pointed towards her on the seat and using her legs as a table. The only noises were the crickets chirping outside and the brothers' steady breathing as they slept. Now and then, one of them would twitch.

Sam and Dean each wandered around Dean's dream world, encountering a scene of Lisa on a picnic, saying they only had an hour before they had to pick Ben and Sarah up from baseball practice. Dean felt embarrassed his brother had seen that but at least it was still hidden from Sarah who actually didn't care for the woman that much and Dean made Sam swore not to bring it up around her or he'd kill him. Not literally, of course.

Somehow, though, the two of them had gotten separated before eventually, Dean wandered into their motel room, staring himself in the face, literally.

"Hey, Dean."

"Well, aren't you a handsome, son of a gun," Dean said, surprised.

"We need to talk."

"I get it," he winked and started to walk around his self. "I get it. I'm my own worst nightmare, that it? Huh? Kind of like the _Superman III _junkyard scene? A little mano y mano with myself?"

The other Dean was circling around with him too. "Joke all you want, smart ass," he told him. He shook his head, "you can't lie to me. I know the truth." Both of them stopped walking, standing in each other's positions now. "I know how dead you are inside. How worthless you feel. I know how you look into a mirror…" he paused for a second. "…and hate what you see."

Dean smiled and shook his head, "Sorry, pal, it's not gonna work," and shrugged, "you're not real."

"Sure I am. I'm you."

"I don't think so," Dean told him. "See, this is my siesta. Not yours." Dean raised his left hand. "All I gotta do is snap my fingers and you go bye-bye." He snapped his fingers but nothing happened, his self just stared back at him, not saying a word. Dean tried again several times but nothing still happened.

The other Dean raised his eyebrows as he shrugged, "I'm not going anywhere."

Dean took a deep breath in.

"Neither are you." The door suddenly flew shut and locked. "Like I said," he continued, raising a shotgun up towards the ceiling, from nowhere, "…we need to talk. I mean, you're going to hell and you won't lift a finger to stop it? Talk about low self-esteem." The two of them was circling around again, watching each other. Then again, it's not much of a life worth saving."

"Wake up, Dean," Dean mumbled to himself. "Come on."

"After all, you got nothing outside of Sarah and Sam." He stopped, back in his original spot. "You are nothing. You're as mindless and obedient as an attack dog, instilling the exact same thing into your own kid's head. She'll probably grow up to be just like you."

Dean tried to smirk, "That's not true."

"No? What are the things you want? What are the things that you dream? I mean, your car, that's Dad's. Your favorite leather jacket, Dad's. Your music, Dad's. And Sarah wants to be just like you." He laughed. "Face it, Sarah's not copying you, she's copying Dad."

Dean just scoffed at his self.

"You know if Ben was yours too, you'd be telling Sarah the exact same thing he always said, 'look out for your little brother.' You can still hear your dad's voice in your head, can't you?" he raised the shotgun, pointing it at the side of his forehead. "Clear as a bell."

"Just shut up," Dean shook his head, still forcing a smirk.

He lowered the shotgun. "When you think about it…all he ever did was train you, boss you around. But Sam…." The other Dean had moved closer, close to Dean's face as Dean raised his head at him. "Sam, he doted on. Sam, he loved. Kind of like how you treat Sarah too."

"I mean it," Dean winked, growing annoyed now. "I'm getting angry."

"Dad knew who you really were. A good soldier and nothing else. Daddy's blunt little instrument." He raised his voice, "Your own father didn't care whether you lived or died. And you felt envious when he showed so much affection towards your own kid than he ever showed you. You try so hard to give Sarah what you never had but you're just the same: a drill sergeant and nothing else."

That pushed Dean over the edge and shoved his self, back against the wall, "Son of a bitch! My father was an obsessed bastard!" The other Dean tried to stand but Dean kicked him back against the wall. Both grunted as Dean punched him in the side of the face and pinned him with the shotgun. "All that crap he dumped on me, about protecting Sam, that was his crap. He's the one who couldn't protect his family." Dean left-hooked him in the face as well. "He's the one who let Mom die." He pinned the shotgun against his self's throat. "Who wasn't there for Sam, I always was and for Sarah since I found her. He wasn't fair! The minute I met her, I vowed I would. I am a way better father than he ever was and never have I put what Dad put on me on her. As much as a father I am, I don't deserve to go to hell!" With that, Dean shot his self.

The other Dean sat there, motionless. Blood had splattered from the bullet wound and onto his face. Dean took a step towards him when suddenly he shot awake, his eyes all black like a demon's.

"You can't escape me, Dean."

Dean took a step back in surprise.

"You're gonna die. And this, this is what you're gonna become."

Suddenly, Dean woke with a start, back in the Impala as he breathed heavily. Sam had woken up too. He looked around, glad it was over but the image of his self was still etched into his mind.

Sarah stood up from the backseat, pushing against it with her right foot and touched his right shoulder, "You okay, Dad?"

Dean continued to inhale and exhale. "Yeah, I'm fine, Baby Girl." He swallowed a breath of air into his lungs, staring down at the steering wheel. His daughter wrapped her arms around his neck to comfort him, sensing he could use a hug. Dean leaned his head against hers, holding his opposite hand to her opposite cheek.

The next day, in between Dean trying to reach Bela, Sarah used his phone to call Matt to set up their date, planning a lunch since Matt didn't have class that day. Dean took the phone back when she hung up and tried Bela again when Sam and Bobby walked in.

Dean turned around when he heard the door open. "Any of you guys seen Bela?" he asked them. "She's not in her room, and not answering her phone."

Sam shrugged as Bobby closed the door behind him, "She must've taken off or something."

Dean jerked his head back, "Just like that? That's a little weird."

"Yeah, well, if you ask me, what's weird is why she helped us in the first place," Bobby said.

"I thought you saved her life," Dean reminded him.

Bobby looked at him. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"The thing in Flagstaff."

"The thing in Flagstaff was an amulet," he shrugged. "I gave her a good deal, that's all."

"Wow, that must have been some deal then," Sarah said, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

Sam and Dean exchanged looks between each other before Sam turned back to Bobby, "Well, then why did…"

"You three better check your pockets," Bobby nodded at them.

All three Winchesters each took it literally and checked their pockets.

"Not literally," he sighed.

Dean slowly raised his head as it hit him and turned around towards the room safe in the closet. He walked towards it, "No, no, no," he said and yanked it open to find the Colt missing.

"The Colt," Sam said when he saw it was gone too.

Dean shoved the safe closed in anger.

"Bela stole the Colt."

"Damn it, boys," Bobby scolded the brothers.

Dean stared at the floor, thinking how much he would strangle Bela when he got his hands on her. "Pack your crap," he said and walked over to the bed to grab his duffel bag.

"Why?" Sam turned around. "Where we going?"

"We're gonna go hunt the bitch down."

"But what about my date with Matt?" Sarah reminded her father.

Dean stopped and sighed at the ceiling. He knew how much this date meant to his daughter but they needed to get the Colt back before Bela sold it. He was torn. Thinking about last night, Dean knew his daughter's happiness was more important no matter how much he needed that gun back. "Fine, we'll stop there on the way. Okay?"

"Really?" she asked, surprised.

Dean couldn't help smirk at his daughter. "Yeah, really, Baby Girl."

Sarah smiled in return and rushed over to wrap her arms around his legs. Dean lifted his daughter up and hugged her back.

Later, Dean pulled up to the sandwich shop and let Sarah jump out before pretending to go grab a cup of coffee then when she was inside, he parked across the street and pulled out a pair of binoculars from under the seat.

"Dean, what are you doing?" Sam asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he replied, as if it was obvious, looking through them inside the sandwich shop.

"It looks like you're spying on Sarah's date."

"Damn right, I am," Dean said as he continued to watch Sarah through the window as he watched her talk with Matt before they went up to the cashier to order. "He'd better be paying for her," he mumbled.

Sam tried not to spy on his niece's date but he found himself watching too and soon found himself pulling another pair of binoculars from under the seat so he could have a better view too.

Matt indeed paid for the whole meal and handed Sarah one of the plastic cups as they walked over to the soda fountain. Sam and Dean both wished they could hear what the kids were saying as they poured their drinks. When their food was ready, Matt carried the tray over to a booth, which the brothers were glad was by one of the front windows so they could still watch.

Sarah and Matt were laughing at what Matt had said.

"So, I told my parents about you and they want to meet you," Matt changed the subject, serious now. "They're really excited I met someone my own age."

Sarah stopped in mid-bite, holding her sandwich a few inches from her open mouth. She stared down where she was going to bite into it. "That sounds great and all but…."

"But what, Sarah?" he asked.

"I have to leave town after this," she told him, sadly, unable to look him in the eye.

"Leave town? Why? What about school?"

Sarah hesitated, "I…don't go to school here, my uncle homeschools me while we're on the road."

"But I thought you had graduated from high school already. I thought…." He tried to say.

"I never said I had graduated already," she shook her head at the older boy.

"Uh, right. Guess I just assumed." Matt stared down at his own sandwich for a moment. "When will you be back?" he asked when he looked up again.

Sarah bit her lower lip. "Probably never," she admitted.

"Never, but Sarah…I…I…you have to stay. Where's your dad and uncles? My parents say I can be quite persuasive."

"I have to, Matt. My family and I…we save lives. Even though we hardly get thanked, we're making a difference and I can't just stay here with you while people are dying that we could have saved," she explained.

"But what about us? I thought we had something going on between us, I saw how you acted, especially with your uncle. Stay, Sarah. People die. It's a part of life. We're born into this world, we live, then we rot in the ground or sit on someone's mantle," Matt shrugged.

Sarah perked up at what he said and raised an eyebrow, "There's more to it than just the circle of life, Matt and my uncle once said we have to save as many people as we can."

"Why?" he asked. "Why is it your job to save people, Sarah? You're intelligent like I am. You can be anything you want to be. I know it could be just a simple teenage crush but I want to see just how long it can last. I care about you, Sarah. I want to get to know you more, where you're from, who you are." Matt reached across the table and touched her arm, affectionately. "Please, give us a chance."

Sarah stared back at him, wanting to cry. She really did like Matt but knew he couldn't get close and didn't want to keep lying to him. Matt couldn't know what was really out there, if he would even believe her. He still had some innocence left and Sarah didn't want to destroy it.

"Matt," she said after a few moments of thought.

"Yes, Sarah?" he answered, hopeful.

"I…" she sighed, and looked up at him with just her eyes. "I…I'm nine." Sarah had just blurted it out. Maybe that would help end things.

Matt's eyes widen in surprise. "What?"

"I'm nine years old, okay? I lied because I thought you were good-looking and you asked me out and I panicked. I never felt this way about a boy before. I had a minor crush on a friend of ours once but he was an adult, like twenties, I think. I never met a kid I really liked the way I like you. You're sweet and thoughtful and I would love to get to know you more too but…trust me, what me and my family does for a living…" she shrugged. "I don't know what I would do if you got caught in the fire because of me. It's better if I just go and let you get on with your life."

Matt glared at Sarah. "You're selfish, you know that? My mother was heavy into drugs when she and my father was dating, and hurt him plenty of times but did he give up on her? No, he didn't. My father stuck by my mother's side and helped her overcome the addiction."

"That's not what I mean, Matt. It's not like that. I mean…"

But he just shook his head. "Whatever, Sarah. I was looking past the age and just be friends until you were older but, it's not even worth it if you won't even try." Matt stood up from his side of the booth and grabbed just his drink. "I thought you were so much more mature. Guess I was wrong." With that, he stormed from the sandwich shop, shoving the door open with one hand.

Sarah dropped her sandwich and hid her face in her folded arms, on the table, tears welding up in her eyes. Before she knew it, she felt someone sit down beside her and wrap their arm around her. Sarah looked up to see it was her father and broke down, crying as she threw herself against him and hugged her father tightly.

"It's okay, Baby Girl," Dean assured her, softly. "The first is always the hardest."

Sarah didn't say anything. She just cried into his side.

Finally, after a while, Dean spoke again, "Baby Girl, I decided that I don't want to go to hell. We need each other, Baby Girl and I can't leave you. Not now, not when you need me."

Sarah looked up at her father as she sniffed in. "You don't know how glad I am to hear you say that, Daddy. Uncle Sammy and I will find a way to save you, don't worry."

Dean forced a smile for his daughter and the two of them hugged each other again.


	108. Chapter 107- Mystery Spot (part 1)

**Sorry for the two-week delay and there may be a another two-week delay. Thank you to those who prayed for my roommates and I, I really appreciate it. I got what happened that week sorted out but things aren't better for us yet. We had to shut off the internet in our house and I am uploading these next four chapters from a Barnes&Noble. Trying to get everything sorted out so I can continue writing this awesome story but at this point, life comes first. Hope you like these next four chapters! **

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 107

Dean and Sarah were sitting up in bed while Sarah was reading _The Outsiders _out loud to him for her homeschooling with her uncle. Sam always tried to find books he thought his niece would enjoy and looked to see if there were any study guides online or if there wasn't, made them his self.

Dean liked it when his daughter read to him and was also enjoying the book as much as she was. So far, the character that stood out the most to him was the main character's oldest brother, Darryl who was watching out for his two younger brothers. When Dean first heard what the main character was called, he had to remark on what kind of name was Ponyboy but as the story continued, it didn't matter that much and just wanted to know what would happen next, reminding Sarah when they checked into a motel at night, and if they weren't exhausted, to do her homework so he could find out.

When they finished another chapter, Sam stopped Sarah from continuing, sitting at the small table in the room and called her over.

"Come on, Sam," Dean protested, "Just one more chapter?"

Sam couldn't help smile at his brother as he shook his head. "In a little bit. Sarah and I need to work on her schoolwork."

Sarah slid off the bed and went over to sit in a chair beside her uncle, opening her spiral notebook and clicking her pen.

Sam turned his laptop so his niece could see the screen as well and went over the current chapter's study guide. Even though he knew Sarah could do it alone, he liked going though it with her, question by question to hear her thoughts out loud. Sarah sat up onto her left foot and leaned on her arms as her uncle read the first question.

It took an hour to complete the whole chapter study guide and by the time they finished, Dean had fallen asleep, snoring softly. Sam looked at his watch to see it was eleven-thirty.

"We'll work on mathematics another night, Peanut. It's late," he told Sarah.

"Okay," she replied and a yawn escaped at that point.

"Better get to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow with figuring out how that guy suddenly disappeared."

Sarah nodded and started turning the pages in her notebook when she stopped at her essay her father had assigned to her and stared at it for a second. "Can I read my essay to you, or do you want to read it, Uncle Sammy?"

"Sure, I can read it," Sam said.

She folded the front of the notebook back and pushed it towards her uncle, showing him how long it was before standing up and gave him a hug and kiss good-night. Sarah then headed over to the bed and climbed up, beside her father, getting under the covers to snuggle close to him.

Sam stayed at the table and started reading what his niece had written. As he read the essay, he couldn't help smile at the words and give a quiet snicker. When Sam got more into it, his eyes watered and he could help shed a tear or two just how much he really did mean to his niece. He still felt jealous at times with his brother but to read the words his niece had written about him, it was amazing.

Part of the essay explained how guilty Sarah felt lashing out at Sam when he was only trying to look out for her and knew just how protective he was as much as Dean. In fact, with all that Sarah wrote, Sam swore she had gone way over the thousand word limit Dean had set. By the time Sam finished, his heart was completely warm and there was a trail on both sides where his tears had dried on his face.

Suddenly, Sam jumped when he heard his niece speak beside him again. "Peanut, I thought you were asleep."

Sarah shook her head. "I almost did until I heard you sniff. Is there something wrong with my essay? I haven't given it to Dad yet so if I said something wrong…"

He pulled his niece in and kissed the side of her head. "I love the essay, Peanut. It's really sweet and beautifully written. You really mean all this?"

"Yeah, Uncle Sammy, every word," she looked up at him. "I mean, I didn't enjoy being embarrassed in front of Matt but what kid does like it when they are being embarrassed by their dad or uncle, or whoever is taking care of them. Dad and I, we share a lot of stuff like our music and cars but you and me, we're nerds."

Sam laughed at that. "We're nerds, huh?"

"Isn't that what Dad calls us?" she smirked.

Sam smiled at her for a moment before he said, softly, "Yeah, we're nerds, and nerds stick together, right?"

"Family does too and together, we'll find a way to save Dad." Sarah wrapped her arms around her uncle and squeezed his waist.

"You bet we will, Peanut," Sam replied.

The next morning, the alarm clock on the nightstand in between the beds went off, playing an Asia song. Sam sat up in bed in surprise. The volume and distance the clock was from Sarah surprised her enough she rolled off the bed with a painful thump.

"Rise and shine, you two," Dean called over the music, sitting on the foot of the bed, tying his boot.

"Dad, did you have to use the radio alarm?" Sarah scowled over at her father. As much as she liked music, Sarah never preferred the radio waking her up.

"And does it have to be Asia?" Sam added.

"Come on, you love this song, and you know it," he told his brother.

"Yeah, and if I have to hear it again, I'm gonna kill myself."

Dean reached over and turned the dial, raising the volume. "What? I'm sorry, I can't hear you," he said over the music.

Sam snickered to himself as Dean mouthed along to the words of the song, eventually standing. Sarah couldn't help laugh at her father either as she watched him bang his head to the music. Both Sam and Sarah got dressed, taking turns in the bathroom before the three of them shared the sink at once, brushing their teeth. Sarah squeezed some tooth paste onto her toothbrush before passing it to her uncle who examined it.

"It wasn't me," Sarah told him, brushing as if she was reading Sam's mind and stared up at the ceiling with just her eyes as her father gargled with his mouth wash. "Is it really necessary to gargle like that, Dad?"

Dean just winked at her as he continued.

When the Winchesters were ready to leave, or rather Sam and Sarah was, Dean hurried around the motel room looking for something while they stood in the doorway.

"Whenever you're ready, Dean," Sam hurried his brother along.

Dean looked through his duffel bag until he found his gun and finally headed out the door, placing it behind him. "Now, who's ready for some breakfast?"

"I'm starving," Sarah followed after her father, hurrying to keep up.

The Winchesters walked down the street to a local diner and headed over to sit down in a booth. Sarah sat by the window beside Dean while Sam sat across from them.

Dean looked up at the menu above the front counter, "Hey, Tuesday," he smiled at his brother, "Pig in a poke."

"Do you even know what that is?" Sam shrugged.

He looked back at the menu as the waitress walked over to them to ask for their order. "Yes," he replied. "I'll have the special, side of bacon and coffee."

"Make it two coffees and a short stack," Sam added.

"And I'll have two waffles with a side of bacon too, and do you have chocolate milk?" Sarah asked.

"Yes we do," the waitress replied, "Coming right up." She turned around to place the order with the cook.

Dean shifted back into his seat, his right arm across the back of the seat behind Sarah, "I'm telling you, Sam, this job is small fry," he said, staring out the window. "We should be spending our time hunting down Bela."

"Okay, sure, let's get right on that," Sam told him, sarcastically. "Where is she again?"

"Shut up."

Sam reached into his jacket pocket, "Look, believe me, I want to find her as much as you do." He ripped out the research he had found on the job they were starting and tossed it on the table. "In the meantime, we have this."

Dean leaned forward to pick it up and looked over it. Sarah sat on her left leg to lean forward, towards it. "All right, so this professor…" he said.

"Dexter Hasselback," Sam began to explain, "He was passing through town, last week when he vanished."

Sarah asked, "Last location?"

"His daughter says he was on his way to visit the Broward County Mystery Spot."

Dean picked up a brochure about the place to read it, "Where the laws of physics have no meaning?" He looked over at his brother, showing it to him.

"Those things are just a bunch of crap," Sarah stated.

"It's called tourism, Baby Girl," Dean told his daughter.

Sarah scoffed as the waitress returned with their drinks first and a bottle of hot sauce, passing Sarah her chocolate milk first before placing the boys' coffees on the table. The waitress accidently knocked over the hot sauce which crashed onto the floor, splashing all over and yelled for clean up before leaving again. Dean shrugged at Sam, not saying anything when she apologized.

Once the three of them finished eating, the Winchesters left the diner. A Golden Retriever barked as they walked by, trying to get their attention. Sarah reached out and rubbed the dog's head as she walked behind her father and uncle. Sam was looking over the brochure.

Dean ripped it out of his hands, "Sarah's right, Sam. Joints like this are only tourist traps. I mean, balls rolling uphill, furniture nailed to the ceiling. The only danger is to your wallet," he laughed at the last part."

"I'm just saying, there are spots in the world where holes open up and swallow people," Sam argued. "The Bermuda Triangle, the Oregon Vortex."

Sarah interrupted her uncle, "Broward County Mystery Spot?"

Sam held out his right arm, "Sometimes, these places are legit."

Dean asked right before a young woman bumped into his left arm, "Okay, so if it is legit, and that's a big ass if, what's the lore?"

"The lore's pretty freaking nuts, actually," he explained. "I mean, these places, the magnetic fields are so strong that they can bend space-time, sending victims no one knows where."

Dean kept looking back at the woman as his brother spoke until he faced forward. "Sounds a little _X-files _to me." They passed two guys trying to fit a grand piano through a small doorway.

"If that means strange, I agree," Sarah agreed with her father.

"Okay, look, I'm not this is happening," Sam continued, "If it is, we gotta check it out. See if we can do something."

"All right," Dean gave in. "We'll go tonight after they close and have ourselves a nice, long look. In the meantime, I want to know what's happening with Ponyboy and Johnny." The Winchesters headed back to the motel to kill some time and read more of _The Outsiders_.

Sam picked the lock to the mystery spot and wandered inside, getting their flashlights out. He took out his EMF reader as they headed down the hall and into the main room, looking around the place.

"Wow," Dean said, shining his flashlight up at a table on the ceiling. "Uncanny."

"Reminds me of the room in my _Luigi_ game when the room gets flipped upside down," Sarah remarked.

"Is there anything that doesn't remind you of a video game?" he asked her, over his shoulder.

"Hey, you reference TV and movies," she pointed out. "Is there anything that doesn't remind you of those?"

"All right, smart ass."

Sarah smirked, "Love you, Dad."

Dean smirked from the other side of the room, continuing to look around the place, "Just wait 'til we get back to the motel," he teased his daughter. "Find anything, Sam?"

Sam glanced over at his brother, holding his arm out as he held the EMF reader, "No."

"Do you have any idea what you're looking for?"

"Uh," Sam thought on that and shrugged, "Yeah."

His niece asked, "You sure about that, Uncle Sam?"

"No," he admitted.

Dean just shook his head at his brother and looked elsewhere before the three of them continued looking until a voice startled them, "What the hell are you doing here?" The Winchesters quickly turned around, Dean drawing his gun.

"Woah, woah, woah," Dean said when he saw it was the owner. "We can explain."

Sam and Sarah raised their hands up in surrender as the owner waved his shotguns around at them.

"You robbing me?" the owner asked.

"Look, nobody's robbing you," Sam tried to assure him. "Calm down."

Dean and Sarah nodded in agreement.

"Don't move. Don't move."

"I'm just putting the gun down," Dean told the owner and slowly lowered himself. The owner panicked and shot him in the chest, knocking Dean back.

"Dad!" Sarah dashed over to her father, followed by Sam who lifted Dean in his arms.

"Call 911," Sam told the owner who tried to tell them it was an accident but Sam just told him to hurry and turned back to his brother who was now choking.

"Dad, you can't go yet. Not yet," Sarah was pleading as tears built up in her eyes.

"Not like this," Sam added, holding back his own.

Dean lied there in Sam's arms as Sam and Sarah pleaded for him to hold on until his eyes closed for good and stopped breathing. Sarah shut her eyes and cried hard. Soon, Sam couldn't hold his any longer as he repeatedly exhaled.


	109. Chapter 108- Mystery Spot (part 2)

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 108

Sam opened his eyes as he heard Asia playing on the radio again and bolted into a sitting position as Sarah bolted awake and rolled off the bed, onto the floor again. The two of them noticed Dean sitting at the foot of the bed, tying his boot.

"Rise and shine, you two," he told them.

Sam and Sarah looked back at the clock, confused before looking at Dean once more.

"Dude. Asia," Dean smirked.

They stared at him before Sam found his voice first, "Dean?"

"Oh, come on. You love this song and you know it." He reached over and turned the dial to raise the volume, mouthing the words to the song, banging his head along to it before walking towards the bathroom.

Sarah shared a look with her uncle before jumping to her feet and hurried after her father to wrap her arms around his legs from behind. Dean almost lost his balance but caught himself.

"Wow, the radio should play Asia more often," he remarked, twisted around, rubbing the top of her head.

Once they were dressed, they shared the sink together like before. Sam couldn't help watch Dean, gargle mouthwash the same way as he rinsed his own mouth and spit it out as Sarah flossed her teeth.

Dean noticed his brother watching him and spit into the sink. "What?"

Sam stared down at his niece, not sure if it was one of their psychic stuff or a shared dream. "I don't know," he finally admitted.

Dean turned on the water and rinsed his mouth before grabbing a white hand towel, "You all right?"

"No. I think I…." Sam paused, trying to make sense of everything and just shook his head. "Man, I had a weird dream."

Sarah removed the floss from her mouth. "Me, too," she agreed.

"Yeah? Clowns or midgets, Sam?" Dean asked, messing with his teeth in the mirror before turning his head to look at him.

Sam just scoffed.

The Winchesters headed to the same local diner which Sam and Sarah couldn't help notice had the same people, dressed the same way and overheard the same conversations as they walked over to the same table.

Dean let Sarah in first before sitting down on the end while Sam sat across from them. "Hey. Tuesday. Pig in a poke," Dean pointed up at the menu.

Sarah looked at her father when she heard him say that as Sam asked, "It's Tuesday?"

"Yeah," Dean nodded once.

Sarah and Sam exchanged confused looks between each other. "But…" Sarah started to say until the waitress walked up at that point.

"Is everyone ready to order?" she asked.

"Yes, I'll have the special, side of bacon, and a coffee," Dean told her.

Sam looked between his brother and the waitress, his mouth hanging open. "Uh, nothing for me. Thanks."

"Just chocolate milk for me," Sarah told the waitress.

The waitress wrote the order down and told Sam to let her know if he changed his mind, and walked away.

Dean sighed, leaning back into his seat with his right arm across the back, behind Sarah, "I'm telling you, Sam, this job is small fry," he said, staring out the window. "We should be spending our time, hunting down Bela."

Sam was busy looking around the diner, taking everything in. Everyone was in the same exact position as the day before.

"Dad, you said that yesterday, didn't you?" Sarah asked her father.

Dean looked down at his daughter, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think so," he tried to recall.

"Yeah, we were right here, weren't we?"

Dean felt Sarah's forehead, using both sides of his hand, "You feeling okay, Baby Girl?" He took his hand back when he saw she felt normal. "I never remember you passing up a meal."

"I'm…fine. Or, I think I'm fine." Sarah looked over at her uncle. "Right, Uncle Sam?"

"Yeah, yeah," he agreed and turned to Dean. "You don't remember any of this?"

"Remember what? What Sarah asked?" Dean asked his brother.

"This. Like…Like, it's…happened before?"

"You mean like déjà vu?"

Sarah stepped in to help her uncle, "No, like today already happened before."

"Yeah, like déjà vu," Dean nodded at her.

"No, forget about déjà vu," Sam told him, starting to feel frustrated now. "We're asking you if it feels like we're living yesterday all over again."

Dean looked between his brother and daughter, confused. "Okay, how is that not déjà vu?"

Sarah dropped her forehead on the table as Sam told him, "Don't. Don't say it. Just don't…" as he waved his hands up.

The waitress reappeared with their drinks, placing Sarah's chocolate milk and Dean's coffee on the table in front of them. The hot sauce fell from the tray which Sam caught this time, flipping it over as he stared at it. Sarah lifted her head when she had heard the waitress curse. Sam handed the bottle to the waitress who placed it on the table, thanking him before walking away.

"Nice reflexes," Dean complimented his brother.

Sam just shrugged, barely glancing at him. Something was going on and he had to figure out what it was. Once Dean finished eating, they left, walking down the exact same sidewalk with the same events taking place. Sarah petted the dog again as she walked by when it barked for their attention as the boys were talking.

Sam and Sarah had tried explaining about the mystery spot but Dean just shrugged. "I'm sorry you two but I have no idea what you're talking about," he told them.

"Look, yesterday was Tuesday, right?" Sam asked.

"Right," Sarah replied.

"But today is Tuesday too."

Dean kept wondering about his family's sanity. "Yeah. No. Good, you're totally balanced," he said, looking away.

"It's the truth, Dad," Sarah told her father. "I swear. We're not lying."

Dean forced a laugh and was about to speak when the young woman bumped into his left shoulder. He looked back at her before looking forward again. "Look, I'm just saying that's crazy, you know? Even-for-us crazy. Dingo-ate-my-baby crazy."

Sarah tried turning that last statement over in her head, confused.

"Hey, if both of you had the dream, maybe it's one of your psychic premonitions," Dean pointed out.

Sam was looking away. "No, no, no. Way too vivid. Look, we were at the mystery spot, and then…." He paused.

"And then what?"

Sam hesitated at first, deciding whether to finish. "Then we woke up."

"In mine, Dad…ow!" Sam interrupted his niece with what was supposed to be a backwards nudge but added a little more strength than he wanted to.

"Did you just kick your niece?" Dean questioned his brother.

Sam quickly apologized to her, feeling guilty. It wasn't that hard but it was enough to hurt for a couple minutes. He kneeled down to check the damage just in case, rolling up her pant leg. Thankfully, there wasn't a bruise and the three of them continued walking, passing the same two guys with the piano.

"Wait a minute," Sam remembered, "the mystery spot. You think maybe it…"

Dean asked, "Maybe what?"

"We gotta check that place out," he said and looked over at his brother. "Look, just go with me on this."

"All right, all right," Dean gave in. "We'll go tonight after it close and get ourselves a nice, long look."

Sam quickly turned on the spot, "Wait, what?" He stared at Dean, stopping him in his tracks as Sarah bumped into them. "No."

He asked, "Why not?"

"Uh…." Sam stuttered and shrugged. "Let's just go now. Right now. Business hours, nice and crowded."

"I agree with Uncle Sam," Sarah nodded, looking up at her father.

Dean looked between the two of them again. "My God, you two are freaks."

"Dad," Sarah protested.

"Okay," he finally answered, looking down at her and looked away. "Whatever." Dean started walking again. "We'll go now."

Sam and Sarah exchanged one last look between them before they followed after him. An old man from the diner drove by at that point just as Dean was crossing the street and sent him flying into the air, landing on the asphalt. Sam had just stepped one foot off the sidewalk when he stopped in time, holding his arm out to block his niece's path, protectively.

When the car had skidded to a halt, Sarah pushed away from her uncle and ran over to drop beside her father. Dean was bleeding from the side of his face as Sam hurried over after Sarah, lifting him up into his arms. This time, Dean had died instantly.

Sarah shook her father's shoulder, trying to get him to wake up. When he wouldn't, tears filled her eyes once again. "Dad, please wake up," she pleaded. "Please, don't be…." Sarah couldn't even finish her sentence and touched her forehead to his.

Suddenly, Asia's song was playing on the radio once more on the radio as Sam sat up in bed and Sarah rolled off onto the floor. Sarah lifted herself up to find Dean back at the foot of the bed.

"Rise and shine, you two," he said, tying his shoe.

This time, the two of them watched Dean gargle at the sink by himself. Sarah tugged on her uncle's pajama shirt to get his attention, "What the heck is going on, Uncle Sam?" she asked, keeping her voice down so Dean wouldn't hear.

Sam slowly kneeled down to his niece's level as he continued to watch his brother. "I have no idea, Peanut," he admitted.

"Do you really think it's the mystery spot?"

"It has to be. That's where it all started," Sam told her.

"So we're in some sick and twisted universe where we have to watch Dad die over and over again? I don't like it."

Sam looked at his niece, "I don't either."

They headed to the same diner where Dean commented on the same special.

"Okay, will you listen, Dean?" Sam asked his brother, annoyed. "Because I am flipping out."

Dean gave him a strange look until the waitress walked up and started to order when Sam ordered for him and ordered Sarah her chocolate milk, sending her away.

"Sammy, I get all tingly when you take control like that," Dean smiled as he leaned back in his seat. Sarah scooted away, closer to the window. He looked over at her, lowering his eyebrows. "Not like that, Sarah."

"Quit screwing around, Dean," Sam told his brother.

Dean leaned forward, "Okay," he said and quickly lowered his voice. "Okay, I'm listening. So…so you think that you're in some kind of a what…?"

"Time loop," he finished.

Dean raised his head and nodded, "Like _Groundhog Day_?"

"Yes. Exactly. Like _Groundhog Day_."

"How is it like Groundhog's Day?" Sarah asked.

Dean looked over at his daughter, "Remind me to sit you down some time and rent old movies," before looking back at Sam. "So, uh-huh."

Sam shrugged, shaking his head. "So you don't believe me."

Dean laughed. "It's just a little crazy. I mean, even-for-us crazy. You know, like…" He looked down at the table.

Sarah finished for her father, "Dingo-ate-my-baby crazy?"

Dean looked back at her, surprised she knew what he was going to say. Were they that close they could finish each other's sentences. "How'd you know I was gonna say that?" he asked of his daughter.

"Because you said it before, Dad," she told him.

"That's my whole point," Sam added as well before the waitress returned with the drinks, setting them on the table. This time, Sam caught the hot sauce without even looking and held it out for her. The waitress took it, thanking him before setting it on the table and walked away.

"Nice reflexes," Dean complimented to Sam.

"No," he replied, flatly. "I knew it was gonna happen."

Dean stared down at the table, thinking it over before he said, "Look, I'm sure that there's some explanation…"

"You just have to go with us on this, all right, Dean. You just have to. You owe me that much."

"Calm down," he told his brother.

"Don't tell me to calm down. I can't calm down. I can't, because…." Sam paused like he had done before and looked away.

"Because what?"

Sarah looked over at her uncle to see if they should tell Dean this time and looked down, biting her lower lip.

Dean noticed out of the corner of his eye. "Baby Girl?" he asked, brushing his hand along her hair.

Sarah shifted to sit on her legs so her uncle couldn't nudge her, this time and forced herself to look at her father. "You die today, Dad."

He raised his eyebrows at that, "I'm not gonna die. Not today."

Sam spoke, getting Dean's attention, "Twice now, we've watched you die." He took a breath in. "And we can't. I won't do it again, okay? I can't let Sarah see that again. You just have to believe us."

Sarah felt her eyes water and laid her head on her father's shoulder, facing the back of their seat. Dean stared at his brother, seeing a look in his eye that said he was telling the truth and looked down at his daughter. He kissed the top of her head.

"All right," he told them. "Whatever this is, we'll figure this out." Dean still thought they were crazy but he wasn't about to say that in front of Sarah when she had problems with people not believing her in the past.

Sarah petted the same dog and the same woman bumped into Dean as they walked down the same sidewalk, followed by the two guys and the piano.

"And you think this cheesy ass tourist trap has something to do with it?" Dean was asking them.

"I didn't buy it at first, Dad but what other explanation is there?" Sarah shrugged.

"I don't know," he looked away. "It all seems a little too _X-Files_ to me."

"I don't know how else we can explain it, Dean," Sam shot at him.

"All right. All right. We'll go there tonight after they close and have ourselves a nice, long look."

Sam stopped Dean in his tracks, "No, no, no. We can't."

He asked, "Why not?"

Sam looked away, taking a deep breath and looked down. "Because you…"

"I what?"

Sam looked away again for a brief moment.

"I die there?"

Sarah nodded when Dean looked down at her. "By shotgun," she said, sadly.

"Huh," Dean said, looking at the ground as Sam looked away. "Okay, let's go now." He started walking. Just as he was about to step off the sidewalk, Sam and Sarah quickly grabbed him and pulled Dean back. He looked at the two of them who were panting, heavily and looked at the car that was driving away. "Wait, did he…?"

"Yesterday. Yeah," Sam answered in a serious tone.

Dean looked out the corner of his eye for a second. "And?"

Sarah stared up at her father, "And what?"

"Did it look cool like in the movies?" he smirked.

Sarah dropped her face into her left hand as Sam huffed, looking across the street for a second. "You peed yourself," he answered.

Dean looked at the ground and shrugged, trying to shrug it off. "Of course I peed myself. A man gets hit by a car you think he has full control of his bladder? Come on."

"He's right, actually," Sarah told her uncle as Dean started across the street. "When we die, everything is released. Our bladder, and even our bowels too, I mean everything comes out."

"Thanks for sharing, Peanut," Sam forced a smile. "A little too much information though." He then followed after Dean. Sarah ran after the boys to catch up.

They interviewed the owner of the mystery spot who seemed like a whole other person during the day and not so jumpy. At first, the owner explained how his family owned it until Sam got on his case, asking for further detail. Finally he gave in and said he had bought the place from an auction and that he had no clue who Dexter Hasselback was, that the police searched everywhere and could not find him. Eventually, Dean had to remove themselves from the premise when Sam went overboard. Sarah was just as anxious as her uncle was and wanted answers too but she tried to have a little more self-control but every fiber in her wanted to leap out at the poor man too.

"Well, I hate to say it but that place is exactly as I thought," Dean was saying when they were outside again. "It's full of crap."

"Then what is it, Dean? What the hell is happening to us?" Sam demanded of him.

Dean looked ahead as he walked, "I don't know," and stopped to turn towards them. "All right, let me just…" as he held up his hand to Sam. "So every day, I die."

Sam nodded, staring back at him, "Yeah."

"And that's when you both wake up again, right?"

He shrugged, "Yeah."

"So let's just make sure I don't die," Dean told them. "If I make it until tomorrow, maybe the loop stops and we can figure all this out."

"How are we supposed to do that? Put you in a plastic bubble?" Sarah questioned.

"Or we could grab some take out, head back to the motel, and lay low until midnight. We can find out what happens to Ponyboy and Johnny next." He touched the top of her head, smiling at her.

"Okay, sure. Sounds great," she agreed.

Sam just nodded and hoped his brother was right.

"All right, good. Who wants Chinese?" Right as Dean stepped away, the two guys from before lost their piano when the rope snapped from the weight and landed right on top of him like an old Warner Bros. cartoon.

Sam's shoulders slumped as he sighed while Sarah just fainted. By the time Sam noticed her, the day had started over with the same music and same reaction and Dean's morning greeting. Sarah didn't even bother to look once she was on the floor. She just covered her eyes with one hand while Sam just slowly fell back onto the pillow.

Why them?


	110. Chapter 109- Mystery Spot (part 3)

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 109

Sam explained the whole thing over again to his brother while Sarah sat next to her father with her forehead on the table and her arms dangling underneath. She didn't even want her chocolate milk this time.

"So, uh…" Dean said, looking at the table. "…if you're stuck in _Groundhog Day_, why? What's behind it?"

Sam took a deep breath, shaking his head. "First I thought it was the mystery spot. Now I'm not so sure."

"What do we do?"

"Try to keep you alive and make it to tomorrow," Sarah spoke up without lifting her head.

Dean rubbed her upper back, affectionately, "Shouldn't be too hard."

Sam scoffed at that remark. "Yeah. We've watched you die a few times now and can't ever seem to stop it."

"Well, nothing's set in stone," he shrugged, still moving his hand gently along Sarah's back. "You say I order the same thing every day, right?"

"Yeah, pig in a poke, side of bacon," Sam nodded over to the menu.

Dean called over to the waitress, "Excuse me, sweetheart. Can I get sausage instead of bacon?"

"Sure thing, hon," she replied and turned back away.

He smiled at Sam, "See?" and leaned over to wrap his arm around his daughter, kissing the side of her head. "Different day already," he smiled at her too.

Sarah looked up, not lifting her head. Dean smiled at her which she forced one for him.

"You see, if we decide that I am not gonna die…" Dean shook his head at both Sam and Sarah. "I'm not gonna die."

The waitress brought Dean's order over and set it in front of him which he thanked her for. Picking up his fork, Dean poked it into one of the sausages and took a bite of it, smiling over at Sam.

When Sam looked away, Dean started choking on it, making Sarah's head shoot up.

"Dean," Sam told him as if Dean was messing around with him before realizing he wasn't. "Dean?"

Then, Sam and Sarah woke up yet again to the music. Thinking it was better not to leave the motel, they stayed inside. That didn't work either when Dean slipped in the shower, ate a bad taco, and got electrocuted by the outlet when he plugged in his electric razor, among many other things. After seeing Dean, die many different ways, even Sarah was fed up and the two of them grabbed an axe and dragged Dean to the mystery spot where they tied up the owner. Having Dean, wait beside him, Sam and Sarah got to work. Sarah had to work extra hard due to her strength but with the adrenaline and rage built up inside, it helped keep her going until she heard blood splatter and looked back to see her father on the floor and Sam standing over him in shock.

Once they woke up, Sarah jumped to her feet and grabbed the clock off the nightstand, yanking the cord out of the outlet and flung it across the room, breathing heavily.

Dean stared at his daughter, confused. "Not an Asia fan, I see," he remarked. "You okay, Baby Girl?"

"Ask me again when it's Wednesday," she told him and threw herself back onto the bed, face-first. Sam couldn't agree more with his niece.

They entered the diner with the same people which Sarah used her pickpocket skills to swipe the old man's car keys from his sweater pocket as the family made their way to the table. Dean let her slide in first before he slid in after her.

"Hey. Tuesday. Pig in a poke," Dean pointed at the menu.

Sarah placed the car keys on the table.

"What are those?" he asked her, staring at them.

"That old man's," she replied, lowering her head onto the table again.

"And what did I saw about pickpocketing, Sarah Lynn?" Dean raised his eyebrows at her in reminder.

Sarah lifted her head long enough to say, "Trust me. You don't want him behind a wheel," and lowered it back down, shutting her eyes.

The waitress walked up to take their order.

Dean stared at his daughter, "Uh, yes." He slowly looked up at the waitress. "I'll have the special, side of bacon, and coffee."

"Hey, Doris," Sam spoke up next, "what I'd like is for you to log in more hours at the archery range. You're a terrible shot."

The waitress stared at him surprised he knew that. "How do you know I…?"

He nodded, "Lucky guess."

The waitress looked over at Dean who nodded, smiling before she walked away. Dean then looked over at Sam. "Okay, so you both think you're caught in some, what again?"

Sam stared down at the table, his hands in his jacket pockets, "Time loop."

"Like _Groundhog Day_," he nodded.

"Doesn't matter, there's no way to stop it."

"Jeez. So you're grumpy too, I see," Dean laughed.

"Yeah, we are. You wanna know why?" Sam asked.

"Why?"

"Because this is the hundred Tuesday in a row Sarah and I have been through and it never stops," he told him and raised his eyebrows once, "Ever. So, yeah, we're a little grumpy."

Out of nowhere, to Dean anyway, Sarah said, "Hot sauce."

Dean looked over in her direction, "What?" he asked as the waitress walked up and placed Dean's coffee in front of him and Sam caught the bottle and set it on the table without even looking. "Nice reflexes."

"We knew it was gonna happen, Dean," Sam told him. "We know everything that's gonna happen."

"You don't know everything," he scoffed.

"Yeah, we do."

Together, the brothers said, "Yeah, right. Nice guess."

"It wasn't a guess," Sam told him.

"Right, you're a mind reader," they said together as Sarah sighed, obnoxiously loud. "Cut it out, Sam. Sam." The brothers moved closer to each other. "You think you're being funny, but you're being really, really childish." Pausing for a second, they continued, "Sam Winchester wears make-up."

Dean looked away to think of something else to say and continued with Sam joining in once more. "Sam Winchester cries his way through sex. Sam Winchester keeps a ruler by the bed, and every morning when he wakes up…" Dean waved his arms out and looked out the window, "Okay, enough!" He stared at his brother, terrified of him now.

"That's not all," Sam added, quietly and looked over at the cash register. "Randy, the cashier," he looked back at Dean, "he's skimming from the register."

"That guy sitting over at the counter," Sarah spoke up, "he wears a bunny suit, at night."

The older man she was referring to tried to set his drink down but accidentally spilled it when he wasn't paying attention when he heard her.

"Over there," Sam nodded over at another guy, younger this time, "That's Cal. He's gonna rob Tony the mechanic on the way home."

"What's your point?" Dean stared between Sam and Sarah with just his eyes.

"The point is, we have lived through every possible Tuesday. We've watched you die every possible way, we have ripped apart the mystery spot, burnt it down, tried everything we know to save your life and neither of us can."

"No matter what we do, you still die," Sarah said.

"And then we wake up," Sam said.

"And it's Tuesday all over again."

Thankful they got through breakfast, the Winchesters left the diner.

"The dog," Sam stated as Sarah touched its head.

"'Where's my dang keys,'" Sarah stated next, right before they passed around the old man.

"'Excuse me.'" The woman bumped into Dean.

Dean looked back, "She's kind of cute."

Neither one of them was fazed.

They continued walking for a few steps before Dean stopped and hurried after her. In all the Tuesdays, he had yet to do something like that and returned with a missing person flyer of Dexter Hasselback, the guy they were looking for. That young woman was his daughter. Sam grabbed it before he and Sarah dashed after her next to ask her some questions about what happened to the man. Unfortunately, with Dean's luck he was mauled by the same dog Sarah had petted each time and started the day over.

While Dean ate his breakfast, Sam checked his laptop while Sarah sat on his side, this time. "So the police report says Dexter Hasselback is a professor but that's not all he is," he explained as Sarah skimmed it in her mind.

Dean asked, "What is he?"

"Sarah and I talked to his daughter," Sam nodded at him, "The guy's quite the journalist. Columns in magazines, a blog. He writes about tourist attractions: mystery spots, UFO crash sites. Gets his kicks debunking them."

Sarah nodded at her father in agreement, "Yeah, and it's ironic he gets lost in one."

"He's already put four of these places out of business. Here," Sam turned his laptop around so Dean could skim through the article.

"_Dexter Hasselback: Truth Warrior_?" Dean read in disbelief. "More like a pompous schmuck if you ask me."

Sam agreed, "Yeah, tell me about it. We read through everything the guy's ever written. Must've weighed a ton, he was so full of himself."

When did you have time to do all this research?" he asked them, barely looking up from the computer screen.

Sam looked over at Sarah, who looked back at him, sharing sympathetic looks between each other before he closed his laptop and packed up. Dean laughed, remembering what Sarah had said about it being ironic Dexter Hasselback got lost in something he made a living tearing down before walking over to the register. Sarah squeezed out of the table, behind Sam which he had noticed one of the men who sat at the counter every single time had strawberry instead of maple.

"Peanut, hold up for a sec," he stopped her.

Sarah stopped and looked back, "What?" she asked.

Sam nodded over to show her and Sarah caught it too.

Dean returned, "What's wrong?"

"That guy changed from maple syrup to strawberry," Sarah told her father.

"It's a free country," Dean shrugged at her. "Man can't choose his own syrup, huh? What have we become?"

"Not in this diner," Sam shook his head. "Not today."

"After every Tuesday we lived, nothing has ever changed," Sarah explained. "Ever."

"Except us."

Sarah quickly looked up at her uncle and knew exactly who they were dealing with. When the day started over once more, both of them knew what to do. While Dean did his routine in the bathroom, Sam and Sarah opened the trunk of the Impala and dug out two wooden stakes. Sam made sure they were sharp enough and stuffed them inside a paper bag.

While Dean ate his breakfast, Sam and Sarah eyed the syrup guy until he stood up to leave and followed after him. Confused, Dean hurried after them, leaving the money on the table. Once outside, they waited until they were isolated from witnesses and Sam pinned the guy up against a metal fence, holding his own stake to the guy's throat while Sarah held hers to the guy's stomach.

"We know who you are," Sam told him. "Or should I say what?"

The guy was panicking, "Oh my God. Please don't kill me."

"Uh, Sam, Sarah," Dean tried to object beside them, not sure what was going on.

"Took a long time but we got it," Sam continued.

The man asked, "What?"

"It's your M.O. that gave it away, going after pompous jerks, giving them their just desserts. Your kind loves that, don't they?"

"Yeah, sure. Okay." The man glanced down at Sam's wooden stake. "Just put the stake down."

Dean tried to persuade them too.

"No," Sarah snapped at her father which got an eye raise from him and she quickly continued. "After all Uncle Sam and I been through, Dad. There's no way this jerk's getting away." She pushed the stake in more.

"Wait," the man continued to object. "My name is Ed Coleman," he tried to tell them. "My wife's name is Amelia. I got two kids at home. For crying out loud, I sell ad space."

"We know who you are. You're just like the first one we killed, you're a trickster."

Suddenly the man changed form right in front of them. "Actually, bucko, you didn't."

Dean looked between the trickster and his family, surprised who both glared up at the trickster.

"Why are you doing this?" Sam demanded of him.

"You're joking, right?" the trickster replied and nodded at him, "you chuckleheads tried to kill me, last time. Why wouldn't I do this?"

Dean shifted on his feet, "And Hasselback, what about him?"

The trickster looked over at him with just his eyes, "That putz? He said he didn't believe in wormholes, so I dropped him in one," and laughed. "Huh? Then you three showed up. I made you the second you hit town."

Neither Sam nor Sarah was unmoved. "So this is fun for you?" Sam demanded of him in a very serious tone. "Killing Dean over and over again?"

"One: yes, it is fun," he nodded making Dean raise his eyebrows again. "And two: This is so not about killing Dean."

Sam was breathing in and out fast while Sarah was fighting back the tears.

"This joke on you and Sarah. Watching Dean die every day. Forever."

Sarah was holding her wooden stake in a tight grip, wanting so badly to push it all the way in.

"You son of a bitch," Sam muttered, angrily.

The trickster just smiled. "How long will it take you both to realize…you can't save him…no matter what."

Dean noticed how much this was affecting his daughter as she was starting to bite down on her lower lip, spotting a drizzle of blood. He tried to reach in between his brother and the trickster to pull her out but Sarah shoved him off and pointed the stake at the trickster again.

"Oh yeah?" Sam asked. "I kill you, this all ends now."

The trickster felt both stakes dig in deeper, painfully. "Okay. Okay. Look. I was just playing around. Neither one of you can take a joke, fine. You're out of it. Tomorrow, you wake up, it'll be Wednesday. I swear," he said, looking between the brothers.

"Yeah, right, and Ash Ketchum will eventually grow up and win a league," Sarah glared at him, not believing a word.

The trickster tried to look down at her without having to move his neck, "If I'm lying, you know where to find me. Having pancakes at the diner."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks between them.

"How about we just kill you," Sarah glared at the trickster.

"Sorry, kiddo," he told her, "can't have that." With that, the trickster snapped his fingers and Sam and Sarah woke up in the motel room. Only this time, the radio was playing difference music.

They sat up and looked over to see Dean brushing his teeth at the sink. "Were you gonna sleep all day?" he asked them.

"No Asia," Sam said suddenly.

"Yeah, I know. This station sucks."

Sam looked at the clock and saw it was Wednesday. "It's Wednesday," he said, excited, getting Sarah's attention. She was just as excited, Sarah stood up and started jumping on the bed, chanting _It's Wednesday_ over and over again.

"Sarah, quit jumping before you fall and hurt yourself," Dean scolded her. "And someone turn that thing off."

Sam shoved the covers back, "What, are you kidding? This isn't the most beautiful song you ever heard?"

Sarah leaped over to Sam's bed and tackled him back down, "You bet it is, Uncle Sammy!"

He wrapped his arms around her as he smiled.

"Jeez," Dean spectated, walking from the sink. "How many Tuesdays did you two have?"

Sam and Sarah looked over at him when they heard Dean remembered something from the day before. "You remember, Dad?" Sarah was the one to ask.

"I remember you were wracked out of it yesterday, then I remember running into the trickster," he told them and shook his head. "But no, that's about it."

"All right, pack your stuff," Sam said, reaching over to grab his collared shirt to throw it on. "Let's get the hell out of town. Now."

"No breakfast?"

Sam buttoned up his shirt before looking back up at him to respond, "No breakfast."

Sarah was standing again, on the foot of Sam's bed. "Hey, Dad," she said. "Since I just lived through a hundred Tuesdays that counts for a hundred days, right? So I'm not grounded anymore?"

"Nice try, Sarah but that was only one day that you lived over and over again," Dean told her. Sarah slumped her shoulders, defeated. "But I guess I could count them as separate days as long as you finish that essay I told you to write."

That brightened her face, "Yeah, I did, Dad, and Uncle Sam already read it too. He loved it, right, Uncle Sam?" She twisted her body to look back at her uncle.

"It was beautiful. I loved it," he agreed.

"Then with the hundred Tuesdays and the essay finished, I'd say you are a free woman." Dean smiled at his daughter and got jumped on by her, squeezing his neck tight.

"Thank you, Dad and I promise to never hurt Uncle Sam like that again," she told him from his shoulder. Dean just smiled as he held her in his arms.


	111. Chapter 110- Mystery Spot (part 4)

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 110

While Dean packed the car, Sam and Sarah stayed up in the motel room, packing up the rest of their stuff. Sarah stuffed the rest of her clothes inside, sitting sideways on hers and Dean's bed.

"Uncle Sam," she finally spoke after a while of silence.

Sam acknowledged his niece as he packed his clothes in his backpack, "Hm."

"Do you think there's any truth to what the trickster said yesterday? Do you think there's really no way of saving Dad?" Sarah asked.

"Don't let the trickster's words get to you, Peanut. I said we would save your dad and that's exactly what I plan to do." Sam stuffed the last shirt in his bag.

Sarah sat there for a moment before continuing to pack, stopping again when she picked up her framed photo of her and her father together at some point over the last two years. Both of them were smiling as Dean held his head against hers as he held Sarah in his arms. Those two years had been the best years of her young life and now the clock was clicking down and it seemed Dean was still going to hell. Seeing him die over a hundred times never got any easy and if she had to do it again it would kill her. Each time, her emotions twisted and turned, and her chest felt like someone was squeezing the heck out of her heart, and drained all life from her. By the fiftieth time, Sarah was exhausted.

A gunshot snapped Sarah out of her thoughts. She quickly looked over at her uncle before springing to her feet and dashed outside just time as that Cal guy ran off and Dean lied on the ground, bleeding from his chest.

"Daddy!" she screamed just as Sam had dashed outside, behind her and ran down the stairs and dropped behind her father, turning him from his side, onto his back against her lap. "No, this wasn't supposed to happen today. No, please, Daddy. Stay with us, please don't go. Please don't…"

Sam hurried and dropped beside his niece. "Dean. No, no, no. Not today, not today," he kept saying.

Sarah looked at her uncle as tears ran down both sides of her face, "Do something, Uncle Sam. Please do something."

Sam closed his eyes but when he opened them he was still staring at a lifeless brother. Sarah tried it too but got the same results. Suddenly, she got to her feet and ran off in the direction of the diner with Sam calling after her.

She ran as fast as she could and shoved the front door open, drawing attention to herself as Sarah ran inside and stopped. The trickster was nowhere to be found. He wasn't sitting at the counter eating pancakes with any kind of flavor.

More tears filled Sarah's eyes as she shook her, backing away and back out of the diner. Standing there in the middle of the sidewalk with new activity going on, Sarah let the tears fall. That was it. She lost him. She lost her hero, her best friend, her father.

"We tried, Dad. We tried."

At that point, Sam ran up behind his niece. "Peanut?" he said as he walked closer. Sam kneeled down to her level and placed his hands on her upper arms. "It's okay, Peanut, I'm here. It'll be okay." His voice was breaking and though he was trying to reassure his niece, he tried to reassure himself as well. His brother was gone. The one person who had always been there for him since, as long as he could remember, at an early age. The one he turned to more than his own father and who he looked up too was now gone.

Sarah turned around on the spot and grabbed onto her uncle's neck, crying into his collar bone. No words came from her mouth as she just cried, letting it all out.

"Shh, it'll be okay, Peanut. We're gonna find that trickster, all right. We're going to find that son of a bitch and make him fix this, no matter how long it takes." Sam held onto his niece in a tight embrace and let her have as much time as she needed. None of them cared who stared at them or what they murmured. It really didn't matter when the man they loved was gone.

Over the next six months the two of them kept their eyes and ears open for any sign of the trickster as they continued with other hunting jobs they came across. Nothing else mattered at that point but trying to undo what happened that Wednesday.

If one thought Sarah grew up too fast before, it was nothing what those six months did. In fact, she shipped most of her stuff to Bobby's house, leaving just her clothes and hygiene stuff. That was also the last time Bobby heard from any of them. She and Sam got so obsessed with finding the thing they lost contact with the outside world. They kept to themselves and barely a word got said unless needed to. He tried to call them, calling Sam's cell phone every few weeks, hoping someone would pick up. Until one day, Bobby got wind of the trickster and Sam finally called him back.

Bobby told Sam to meet him at the mystery spot where it had all started. Sam and Sarah wandered inside to find the old hunter had everything all set up. He looked back and stood up to go over and hugged Sam first who didn't budge an inch before moving onto Sarah. All the cheerful and youthfulness she had left before was now drained out of her and she looked tired like Sarah hardly even slept. Bobby looked at the little girl with sadness in his eyes as his heart broke for her. She just didn't seem the same to the old hunter.

He stood up. "It's good to see you two."

"What are we doing here, Bobby?" Sam was the first of the two to speak.

"This is the last place we're sure the trickster worked its magic," Bobby shrugged.

"So?"

"So you want this thing?" he asked Sam as he backed away. "I found a summoning ritual to bring the trickster here."

Sam stepped around the ritual Bobby built, "So what do we need?"

"Blood," he replied.

"How much blood?"

"Ritual says near a galleon," Bobby shrugged. "And it's gotta be fresh too."

Sarah hadn't moved from her spot, staring at the floor. She finally looked up, "Where are we supposed to find a galleon of blood? We would have to let someone bleed to death to get that much." Her words sounded like the way Sarah looked, like she was forcing herself to speak.

"And it'll have to be tonight," he added. "Or not for another fifty years."

"Then let's go get some," Sam stated, turning to leave.

Sarah may have been obsessed over finding the trickster but not even that could overcome her huge heart. But she was too out of it to argue and nothing more was uttered as she looked down at the floor again. She wanted her father desperately, every single day and night. The only reason she kept going was for Sam and the possibility that everything could be fixed and he had made damn sure to drill that into his niece's head.

Bobby watched the young man walk back towards the exit, telling his niece to follow before Sam realized he wasn't following too. "You break my heart, kid," Bobby told him.

Sam was taken aback at that. "What?"

He shook his head, "I'm not gonna let you murder an innocent man. Is that really what you want to teach your niece?"

"Then why you bring me here?"

"Why" Bobby questioned. "Because it was the only way either of you would see me. Because I'm trying to knock some sense into you." He stepped towards Sam, "Because I thought you'd back down from killing a man."

"Well, you thought wrong," Sam told him, coldly. "Leave the stuff. We'll do it ourselves."

Bobby shook his head once, not budging an inch, "I told ya, I'm not gonna let you kill anyone."

Sam's anger got the best of him. "It's none of your damn business what I do!" he exclaimed.

Bobby noticed Sarah hadn't even flinched at the sudden volume change. She just stood there, staring at the floor. He remembered the life and energy that kid had. Where did it all go? What happened to the sweet, innocent kid he knew, in both her and Sam? Bobby looked back at Sam, "You want your brother back so bad…" He reached down and pulled out a sharp, black knife and held it out to him, "…fine."

Sam glanced at the knife then back at Bobby. "What are you talking about?"

"Better me than a civilian."

"You're crazy, Bobby," Sam told him, "I'm not killing you."

"Oh," Bobby nodded. "Now I'm the crazy one."

Sam stared at him, emotionless.

"Look, Sam. I'm old. I'm coming to the end of my trail. But you can keep fighting, saving folks. But you need your brother. Sarah needs her daddy. So let me give him back to ya." As Bobby said that, Sarah finally looked at him, switching between him and her uncle.

"No, Uncle Bobby, that's not right," she muttered.

"It's okay, Sarah," he assured her. "You, your dad, Sam…you three are the closest thing I have to family. I wanna do this." He offered Sam the knife again which he took this time.

Sarah looked up at the adults, feeling finally coming back to her eyes. "Then don't expect me to watch," she said before she turned to leave the room, stopping just on the other side of the wall and stared at the floor. It wouldn't be the first time someone had to die so her father could live. First it was that athlete from Nebraska, then it was her grandfather, and now it Bobby. Sarah hadn't cried since a couple weeks after they lost Dean. By that point, she didn't see any reason to continue when it drained her energy and made her heart ache. Now at the thought of losing Bobby made the tears return and when she heard the knife go in, they just flowed as Sarah heard Sam call out for the old man. There was a new voice in the room after that and Sarah recognized it and dashed back into the room, her sadness turned to anger and hatred as she saw him stand there holding a wooden stake in his hand, talking to Sam.

"Let me tell ya," he was telling him, "Whoever thought Dean was the dysfunctional one has never seen you with a sharp object in your hands."

"Hey!" Sarah protested, not sitting too well with her father or uncle being insulted, especially her father. She searched around the room for Bobby's lifeless body from the corner of her eye but he was nowhere to be found. What in the world was going on here? Where did Bobby go? The trickster was just laughing. "Bring my dad back," she ordered him.

The trickster looked over at where she was standing, confused. "Didn't my girl send you the flowers? Your dad's dead." He shook his head, "He ain't coming back."

Sarah breathed through her nose fast as her heart beat faster.

"His soul's downstairs doing the hellfire rumba as we speak."

"Just take us back to that Tuesday," Sam pleaded with him, tiredly.

Sarah looked over at her uncle before looking back at the trickster. "No, take us to that Wednesday," she pleaded instead.

"We won't come after you, I swear."

"You swear?" the trickster asked.

"Yes," they both said in union.

The trickster thought about that, looking up at the ceiling, "I don't know. Even if I could…"

"You can," Sam told him.

"True," he looked over at them. "But that don't mean I should."

Sarah sucked on her lip, which was becoming a habit now every time she wanted to cry. She just wanted her father back.

"Sam. Sarah," the trickster broke her thoughts. "There's a lesson here that I've been trying to drill into those skulls of yours."

Sam stared back at him, his voice breaking, "Lesson?" He shook his head, "What lesson?"

"This obsession to save Dean," he answered, walking towards them. "The way you all keep sacrificing yourselves for each other? Nothing good comes out of it." The trickster shook his head once, "Just blood and pain."

Sarah stared up at the demi-god trying to hold everything back, feeling it get lodged in her throat and she couldn't swallow. The bottom lip she had been sucking on was now starting to quiver.

"Dean's your weakness. Both of you," he continued. "The bad guys know it too. He's gonna be the death of you." The trickster shrugged and backed away, "Sometimes, you just gotta let people go."

"He's my brother," Sam shrugged.

"And my dad," Sarah managed to mutter.

The trickster tossed the stake into his other hand, looking to the side, "Yup," he said and looked back at them, "and like it or not this is what life's gonna be without him."

"Please," Sam and Sarah both continued to beg.

He scoffed, shaking his head at the ground. "I swear, it's like talking to a brick wall. And I would expect better from you, Sarah with your whole what's-dead-should-stay-dead philosophy you follow."

"It's not bringing him back from the dead, just taking us back to when he was alive," she said.

He sighed, one last time, "Okay, look. This all stopped being fun months ago," the trickster shrugged. "I'm over it."

"So you'll do it?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever, kid." The trickster snapped his fingers, and Sam and Sarah woke up back in that motel room.

Sarah looked up to see her father brushing his teeth at the sink. "You gonna sleep all day?" he asked. No one said anything which Dean stepped towards them. "I know. No Asia. This station sucks." She looked over at the clock which said it was Wednesday then switched back to her father.

Bolting to her feet on the bed, Sarah dashed over and jumped on him, surprising the crap out of him and squeezed his neck the tightest she ever hugged her father.

"It's Wednesday," Sam muttered and threw back the covers to stand up and walk over to hug his brother, opposite from his niece.

Dean raised his eyebrows at the hugs he was receiving. "Dude, how many Tuesdays did you two have?" he asked them.

"Enough," Sam replied for both him and Sarah and let go to look at him. "Wait. What do you remember?"

Dean scanned his brother's face as he shifted his daughter and rubbed her back. "I remember you both being whacked out yesterday," he explained. "I remember catching up with the trickster." Dean shook his head, "That's about it."

Sam stared at Dean for a moment and nodded at the floor. "Let's go," he said, softly.

"No breakfast?" he asked.

Sam scoffed, "No breakfast."

"All right, I'll pack the car," Dean made to set his daughter down on her bare feet but Sarah wouldn't let go.

"Wait," Sam stopped him. "You're not going anywhere alone."

Dean looked at his brother, "It's the parking lot, Sam."

"Anything can happen, anywhere," Sarah muttered which Dean caught.

"Just…just trust us," Sam said.

"Okay," he nodded and focused attention on trying to put Sarah down. "Come on, Baby Girl. You need to get down so we can pack and get ready to go. Remember what your grandfather said about being a big girl."

Sarah sniffed back a few tears. "Not yet, Daddy. Just…just a little bit longer, I swear."

"Well, I think you're starting to bruise my neck but, okay." Dean gave in and carried her over to the bed to sit down and shifted his daughter to have her sit on his lap so he could hold her. "It's gonna be…"

"Please, Daddy. Don't say that word. I'm sick of it."

Dean nodded and rubbed her back, sliding his hand underneath her t-shirt. No one said anything as Sam packed all of their bags so Sarah could a moment to regain some of what she had lost. He felt guilty taking his niece down that path they took those six months and vowed never to do that again. It shouldn't have happened.

After what seemed like forever, Sarah finally spoke, lifting her head from his shoulder. "Dad, since Uncle Sam and I spent over a hundred Tuesdays in a row, does that mean I'm not grounded anymore?"

"You spent one day over and over again." He smiled, "But I guess I could count them as separate days as long as you finished that essay I gave you"

"I did and I let Sam read it already too," she told her father.

"It was beautiful too, I loved it," Sam spoke up over from the table where all the bags were ready to go.

"Then with the hundred Tuesdays and the essay finished, I'd say you are a free woman," Dean told his daughter.

Sarah smiled back at him. "I love you, Dad so much."

"I love you too, Baby Girl, always, no matter what." He kissed her forehead. "Now, come on. Let's hit the road."

Sarah slid off his lap and went over to grab the clothes her uncle left out for her and went into the bathroom, telling no one to look since it was an open bathroom. When the Winchesters were finally ready to leave, she and Sam gave one last look at the unmade beds before Sam turned out the light and closed the door to follow after Dean. This would probably be one hunting job they would never forget.


	112. Chapter 111- Jus in Bello (part 1)

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 111

Sarah sat on the small metal cot in the narrow jail cell, leaning up against her father who was sitting on the edge. The three of them were handcuffed and the brothers were chained together at the ankles. The Winchesters had caught wind of Bela's whereabouts but was double-crossed and was arrested on the spot, meeting a "friend" of the brothers they haven't seen in over a year, Hendrickson who had been chasing them since the shapeshifter hunt that took place during a bank robbery.

Sarah was confused why she was being brought in but Dean had neglected to mention that unlike other authorities, Hendrickson had done some deep research and knew all about Sarah and her school records and how smart she was. So he didn't hesitate to arrest her as well.

"Dad, why didn't you tell me about all this?" she finally asked.

Dean was hunched over, staring at the cement floor as he leaned on his forearms. "I didn't want to scare you, Baby Girl. I was trying to protect you," he told her, softly.

Sarah looked up at her father upside down for a moment then looked at the far wall, "I know, Dad, I know. Something like being tracked down by police just seems like something that should be told." She felt him kiss the top of her head and apologized too.

Hendrickson returned at that point but didn't say anything. He just stood there for a moment, staring at them. "You know what I'm trying to decide?"

Dean scoffed, "I don't know, whether Cialis will help you with your little condition?"

"What to have for dinner, tonight. Steak or lobster?"

"How about bite me," Sarah told him.

Hendrickson just ignored her, "What the hell, surf and turf." He shrugged, "I got a lot to celebrate. I mean, after all, seeing you three in chains?"

Dean lifted his head again with a smirk, "You kinky, son of a bitch. We don't swing that way." Sarah smacked her hand over her eyes in embarrassment.

"Now, that's funny," Hendrickson remarked.

"You know, I wouldn't bust out the melted butter just yet," Dean looked forward. "Couldn't catch us at the bank," he returned his head towards Hendrickson, "couldn't keep us in that jail," and shrugged.

Hendrickson shrugged at the floor. "You're right, I screwed up. I underestimated you. I didn't count on you being that smart. Well, your daughter maybe. But now I'm ready."

"Yeah, ready to lose us again," Sarah snickered.

"Ready like a court order to keep you in a super-maximum prison in Nevada till trial." Sam bolted his head up when he said that. "Ready like isolation in a soundproof, windowless cell so small that between you and me, probably unconstitutional. How's that for ready?"

Sarah had bolted into an upright sitting position to look behind her at the man, "Wait, including me?"

"Oh no, Sarah," Hendrickson assured the little girl. "You will be going away to a tight juvenile detention center for severely messed-up kids. So take a good look at your dad and uncle. You three will never see each other again." Sarah's eyes widened when she heard she wouldn't see her family again as she stared up him. "Aw, where's those smug smiles? I wanna see them."

"You got the wrong guys," Dean shook his head at the floor.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. You fight monsters," Hendrickson pointed at them. "Sorry, Dean. Truth is, your daddy brainwashed you with all that devil talk and no doubt touched you in a bad place. That's all, that's reality."

Sarah glared over at him, angrily as Sam sat up from his spot on the cot, "Don't you ever talk about my grandfather that way."

"But guess what? Life sucks, get a helmet," he shrugged as he continued. "Because everybody's got a sob story. But not everybody becomes a killer," Hendrickson shook his head. There was a sound of a helicopter landing just outside, in the parking lot. "Now I have three less to worry about." He looked at his watch, tapping on it as he smirked, "Mm. It's surf-and-turf time," and laughed as he walked away.

Sarah glared at him as he walked away before looking up at the small, barred window then looked over at her father, who caught a look with her. Throwing herself against him, wishing she could hug him better, Sarah cried on his right shoulder.

"I can promise you, Baby Girl, nothing's gonna happen," Dean assured his daughter. "We're gonna get out of here." He lifted his arms up over her head so he could hold Sarah some way. Things were quiet for a few minutes until they heard someone else walk in and shut the door before walking over to their cell.

"Sam, Dean, and Sarah Winchester," the man said. "I'm Deputy Director Steven Groves." He stepped closer, "this is a pleasure."

"Glad one of us feels that way," Dean mumbled, still holding his daughter.

"I've been waiting a long time for you three to come out of the woodwork." The deputy director suddenly pulled out a gun and pointed it at Dean, shooting it into his left shoulder. Dean leaped sideways, onto the cot, shielding Sarah from the wave of bullets as Sam wrestled the gun away from the guy.

As Sam wrestled with the guy, he saw his eyes turn black and immediately broke into Latin until black smoke shot out of the guy's mouth and dropped limply to the floor. Almost everyone came running, their guns raised. When they saw the deputy director lying on the floor they demanded answers and Sam told them he was possessed which no one believed and ordered someone to prepare the helicopter outside. No one responded, all there was, was static. Soon, after one of the men went outside to check it out, there was a loud explosion.

While everyone ran around like madmen trying to figure things out, all the electricity went out.

"That can't be good," Dean said.

Sarah couldn't pass up an opportunity. "They're here," she said in a voice like the girl from _Poltergeist_.

Sam rolled his eyes at his niece as she snickered. "I swear it's like living with two Deans," he mumbled for the umpteenth time. Sam helped his brother's shoulder as Dean grunted in pain.

"And you gave me a hard time," Sarah reminded her father when she was in his same position.

"I wasn't telling you to suck it up, Sarah," Dean pointed out. "You kept squirming all over the place where I couldn't do anything."

Hendrickson returned, angrily. "What's the plan? Kill everyone in the station and bust you three out?"

Dean demanded, "What the hell you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your psycho friends," he replied. "I'm talking about a bloodbath."

"Who's ever out there ain't no friends of ours," Sarah told the man.

"Look," Sam added, quietly, "you gotta believe us. Everyone here is in terrible danger."

Hendrickson asked, "You think?"

"Why don't you let us out of here so we can save your asses," Dean said.

"From what?" The Winchesters each let out a deep breath, looking everywhere but Hendrickson. "You going to say demons?" he asked and raised his gun towards the ceiling. "Don't you dare say demons."

"Okay, fine," Sarah shrugged, "Fluffy, pink bunnies has taken over the world and they came here to steal all our chocolate Easter eggs and jelly beans. Is that what you would like to hear? Is that so much…ow!" Sarah grabbed the back of her head and started rubbing it where her father had lightly smacked her upside the head and scowled up at him.

"Now's not the time to be a smartass, Sarah Lynn," he scolded his daughter. "We're trying to convince him, not piss him off even more."

Hendrickson was pissed off, "Let me tell you something. You should be a lot more scared of me." With that said, he stormed away.

"How's the shoulder?" Sam asked when Hendrickson was gone.

Dean pulled out a wad of bloody toilet paper from his jacket and looked at it. "It's awesome," he replied, sarcastically and tossed it into the toilet. "I'll live. You know, if we get out of here alive. So you got a plan?" Dean squeezed his eyes in pain before noticing the secretary from when they first arrived. "Hey," he got Sam and Sarah's attention who looked over at her.

"Hey, uh, hey," Sam tried to call out to her, gently as he could but the secretary backed behind the wall. Sarah stopped her uncle and tried herself. Who would be afraid of a kid anyway?

Sarah stepped over to the bars of the cell. "Don't be afraid," she assured the woman. "I'm Sarah. You're Nancy, right?"

The secretary nodded, still hesitant.

"Look, my dad is bleeding really badly. Do you think maybe we could get some towels? Just a towel, I swear. I promise we won't hurt you, I swear."

The secretary, Nancy turned and left.

Sam and Sarah sighed as Dean said, "Nice try," and turned around. However, when they looked back at the spot, Nancy had returned and was holding a white towel which Sarah thanked her for. Nancy walked slowly and hesitantly towards the cell as Sarah held her hand out through the bars. When Nancy was close enough, Sam reacted and grabbed her, making Nancy scream out until one of the officers came running in with a shotgun, ordering to let her go and backed out of the room.

Sarah turned on her uncle, slapping his leg, "You bonehead. I had everything under control, you know."

Sam held up the beaded, cross chain Nancy had been holding since the Winchesters had arrived there. He blessed the chain and dropped it in the toilet.

Sarah asked, of course, "What if one of us has to go?"

Dean looked over at her from his spot on the cot. "Hold it," was all he said, knowing his daughter was just being a smartass.

Time flew by, very slowly. It wasn't long before the Winchesters' stomachs were growling. They passed the time discussing who it could be the demons were possessing and it was getting to the point where the brothers could tell Sarah's bored, rebellious phase was coming out as she was lying on the cold, hard floor, kicking the metal frame of the cot.

"Knock it off, Sarah," Dean warned her.

"I'm bored," she replied.

He rolled his eyes up towards the ceiling, "Yeah, I heard you the first ten times. Find a way to entertain yourself, _please! _And without annoying us," Dean quickly added.

"Careful," Sam warned his brother. "This is exactly how it started that night you went after Bela and the rabbit's foot."

"Please don't mention that name in my presence, right now," Dean shook his head, covering his eyes with his hand. "I swear, when I get out of here, I'm gonna…" At that moment, the sheriff walked in and over to their cell, unlocking it. "Well, howdy there, sheriff," Dean greeted, fake cheerfully as the three of them jumped up. The sheriff was looking at the ground.

Sam was confused, "Uh, sheriff?"

"It's time to go." He stepped towards the brothers who backed away.

"Uh, you know what," said Dean, "We're just comfy, right here," and nodded, "but thank you."

Hendrickson appeared at the cell next. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked of the sheriff.

"I'm not gonna sit around here and wait to die," the sheriff said. "We're gonna make a run for it."

"It's safer here," Hendrickson argued.

"There's a SWAT facility in Boulder."

Hendrickson stepped inside the cell, passed where Sarah was standing at the foot of the cot, watching him, carefully along with the sheriff. "We're not going anywhere."

The sheriff finally looked up at the man, "The hell we're not." At that point, Hendrickson held up his gun and shot the sheriff in the chest. Sam and Dean started to wrestle him into the toilet where Sam began the exorcism. The water burned Hendrickson's face as he cried out. Dean had swiped his gun and pointed it at the same officer who had come when Nancy had cried out for help, who had his own gun raised.

"It's too late," Hendrickson told them. "I already called them. They're already coming." Sam shoved his head back inside the toilet and continued before the black smoke finally left Hendrickson's body. Sam moved and Hendrickson's body became limp, falling on the floor as Sam panted.

"Is he…is he dead?" Nancy asked, afraid still.

Her question was answered when Hendrickson suddenly started coughing.

"Hendrickson," Sam said. "Hey. Is that you in there?"

He sat up, his mind lost and confused of what just happened. Hendrickson stared at the floor as he pushed himself up onto the cot. "I, uh…" he shook his head, "I shot the sheriff."

Dean looked away and smirked, "But you didn't shoot the deputy."

Sam gave his brother a hard look while Sarah threw up her hands. "Oh, so I can't make a wiseass joke but you can, Dad?" she asked, annoyed.

The smirk quickly left his face as he looked back at Hendrickson.

"Five minutes ago I was fine and then…" Hendrickson tried to clear his head.

"Let me guess. Some nasty black smoke jammed itself down your throat?" Dean asked him.

Hendrickson just stared up at him until Sam spoke up, "You were possessed."

He looked over at Sam, "Possessed, like possessed."

"That's what it feels like," Sam smirked. "Now you know."

"I owe you the biggest I-told-you-so ever," Dean told him and handed Hendrickson back his gun who took it, looking down at the ground and stood up.

"Officer Amici," Hendrickson looked over at the officer and asked for the keys which made Dean sigh in relief. He then uncuffed the Winchesters. "All right. So how do we survive?"

While Nancy doctored Dean's shoulder, Sam and Sarah spray-painted devil traps at every single entrance and window. Once Nancy was finished, Dean rushed outside to the impound lot out back and grabbed his duffel bag from the trunk, loading everything he needed. Lights flickered and a gust of wind blew as a huge black cloud of smoke rolled in. Dean grabbed what he could and dashed back inside where Sarah was finishing up the devil trap she was working on.

Dean tossed her a shotgun as he dashed passed her and Sarah quickly leaped to her feet to follow, dropping the aerosol can. Since the entrances were all blocked with salt, the black cloud just passed right over the building. Dean then went into his bag and took out a bunch of charms, passing them out to Hendrickson, Nancy, and the officer, and he, Sam, and Sarah showed them they were covered themselves.

The group waited it out, preparing for another attack while another group of demon-possessed people waited outside, watching them. Dean and Hendrickson talked while Sarah was busy preparing her own shotgun. That is, until they heard glass break and everyone quickly went to check it out.

Ruby and two other people were standing there. The small window behind them was shattered. Dean couldn't believe who the two people that were with Ruby. Sarah pushed her way through the group as Hendrickson asked how to kill them and stopped in her tracks.

"What. The. Hell?" she said in shock as she stared at the last people she wanted to see at that point.

"You watch your language, Sarah Lynn," Greg scolded her.

Sarah just glared at him. "How did you and Gram know we were here?" she demanded of him.

Hendrickson cleared his throat. "I may have called them, informing them you were being taken into custody."

She looked up at him, "Why?"

"They were looking for you, and thought they deserved to know."

"They're not even on my emergency contact anymore," Sarah continued to stare her grandparents down.

Greg looked over at Dean, "Yes, nice job with that, by the way," he said, sarcastically, "Made our search a whole lot harder."

Dean shrugged, "Couldn't have you going after my little girl, now can I?" he said with a smirk.

"And because of you, our granddaughter is going to a juvenile detention facility," he said, angrily.

"Not right now she's not," Hendrickson spoke up. "Right now, we got a problem to take care of."

Greg nodded, "Fine, you take care of whatever it is you're doing, and my wife and I will take Sarah, and trust me, she will stay out of trouble from now on."

Sarah's anger rose. "Did you not see what was going on out there, you twit? There are several demons out there, waiting to kill us. We go out there we will die."

"I see you haven't been reading your Bible, Sarah," he folded his arms.

Ruby, who seemed forgotten in all of this, rolled her eyes. "We don't have time for this," she said and pushed her way through the group since the devil trap was already broken. Everyone but Sarah and the Holdens followed.

Dean stopped in the doorway to look back at his daughter, "Come on, Baby Girl," he held his hand out to her. Sarah glared at her grandfather one last time before obeying her father. Dean gave the back of her neck a reassuring squeeze as they returned to the main office.

"How many are out there?" Dean asked Ruby.

"Thirty at least," she replied. "That's so far."

"Oh, good. Thirty," he said, sarcastically. "Thirty hit men all gunning for us. Who sent them?"

Ruby had sat down on the edge of a desk. She looked over at Sam, "you didn't tell Dean? Wow, I'm surprised."

"Tell Dad about what?" Sarah asked, looking between the demon and her uncle.

"There's a big new up-and-comer. A real piped piper."

"Sarah, what's going on here? What's she talking about?" Greg asked of his granddaughter.

Sarah ignored him, "So who is he?" she asked Ruby, still pointing her own shotgun at her.

Ruby looked over at her, "Not he. Her. Her name is Lilith."

Dean questioned, "Lilith?"

"And she really wants Sam and Sarah's intestines on a stick. Guess she sees them as competition."

Dean and Sarah looked over at where Sam was leaning in the doorway. "You knew about this?" Dean asked of his brother.

Sam did not respond.

"Geez, Sam. Is there anything else I should know, especially about my own kid?"

Sam looked away as Ruby scoffed, "How about the three of you talk about this later?"

"No," Greg spoke up again. "I want to know more about why this Lilith person wants my granddaughter dead."

"She's not a person, you dumbass," Ruby spat at the old man. "She's a demon."

Greg raised his voice, "I will not stand to be talked to in that way."

Sarah covered her face in complete embarrassment and anger. "Will you just shut up?! Unless you want to die, I suggest you let us do our job and save your pathetic ass."

"You, Sarah Lynn, know full well of showing me some respect," he argued with her.

"I will show you some da..." Dean wrapped his arm around Sarah's mouth, pulling her in. "Baby Girl, just drop it, okay? It ain't worth getting all hyped up over. It's not gonna do a bit a good with them and we have more important things to worry about. Don't let them get you into trouble."

Sarah calmed her nerves at her father's words and nodded before Dean removed his hand. "Yes, sir," she replied and received a kiss on the head before he let her go.

Dean turned back to Ruby, "You were saying?"

"We'll need the Colt," she told him and looked between the Winchesters neither one of them saying a word. "Where's the Colt?"

Sarah rubbed the back of her head as Dean tried to come up with a good excuse. It was Sam who answered honestly, "It got stolen."

"I'm sorry, I must have blood in my ears. I thought I just heard you were stupid enough to let the Colt get grabbed out of your thick, clumsily, idiotic hands."

Sarah made a move to do something to the demon until Dean grabbed her by the back of her jacket and pulled her back. "Easy, Sarah," he reminded his daughter. That didn't stop Sarah from glaring at Ruby.

Ruby just stood up and walked away. "Fantastic," she mumbled out loud to herself. "This is just peachy."

"Ruby…" Sam tried to say but she interrupted him with her hand.

"Shut up."

Dean tightened his grip he still had on Sarah which she then reminded him she still had a shotgun in her hands. At that, he took it from her.

"Fine," Ruby finally said and turned around, slowly. "Since I don't see that there's any other option there's one other way I know how to get you out of here alive."

Dean asked, "What's that?"

She looked over at him with her left hand on her hip, "I know a spell."

"A spell? Like witchcraft?" Greg questioned. "No thank you."

"You don't really have a choice since your granddaughter and her idiotic family lost the only weapon that could have saved you," Ruby turned on him and looked around at the rest of the group. "It will vaporize every demon in a one-mile radius." She looked over at Dean and Sarah, "Myself included."

Sarah smiled at that, "Oh joy," she said, sarcastically. "We can get rid of you too. Everyone wins."

Ruby looked down at her, placing both hands on her hips. "Yes, you all let the Colt out of your sight and now I have to die."

"Guess that's how the cookie crumbles," Sarah shrugged.

"Just be more careful next time," she said. "How's that for a dying wish?" Ruby sat back down on the edge of the desk.

Dean let go of Sarah. "Okay. What do we need to do?"

"Aw, you can't do anything. This spell is very specific. It calls for a person of virtue."

He shrugged, "I got virtue."

Ruby laughed, "Nice try. You're not a virgin."

Dean laughed, "Nobody here is a virgin."

Sarah cleared her throat, loudly. "Uh, Dad," she told him, "Remember me?"

She and Dean noticed everyone was looking at Nancy. "No," said Dean. "No way. You're kidding me. You're…"

"What? It's a choice, okay?" Nancy said.

"What, so you…? You never…Not even once? I mean, not even…?"

"Dad, not everyone sleeps with almost every person they meet, you know," Sarah defended the young woman. She then turned back to Ruby, "So what can Nancy and/or I do?"

Ruby stood up, "One of you can hold still…" She walked over to them and stopped. "…While I cut your heart out of your chest."

"What?" both of them questioned.

Dean stepped in, "What are you, crazy?"

"I'm offering a solution," Ruby slowly turned her head towards him.

"You're offering to kill somebody," he argued.

"Isn't that what you do?" Greg asked Dean, sarcastically with his hands on his sides.

Dean rolled his eyes but tried his best to contain himself.

"What do you think is gonna happen when the demons get in?" Ruby asked of him.

"We're gonna protect them, that's what," Hendrickson spoke up.

She glared at him, "Very noble."

Nancy tried to speak up for herself but no one was listening.

"I'll do it," Sarah finally said. "Let the other girl live."

"Hell, no," Dean objected to that. "You're not sacrificing yourself, Sarah Lynn."

She shrugged, "Why not? I got nothing else to lose. Last I checked, Dad, you're still going to hell. I can't…." Sarah shut her eyes tight at the floor. "If it'll save everyone else, I'm all for it. I risked my life many times before, what's so different about now."

"Those other times we had a chance to keep you alive, Sarah. This you're actually willing to die and I'm not gonna allow it."

"We don't have a choice, Dad. Let me do this!" She argued back. Sarah wasn't one to want to argue with her father like this but she wasn't going to let someone die in her place, not when she could stop it.

"I agree with your father, Sarah," Greg added. "You're just a child. You have your whole life ahead of you."

Sarah turned on her grandfather, "I don't care! I want to do this. Nancy's still young too. She still has time to do stuff." She turned around to face Ruby, "Do it, but make it quick!"

"Certainly," Ruby replied but Dean stepped between them.

"I said no, Sarah Lynn. We will figure something else out, no one has to die. Not you. Not Nancy."

"We don't sacrifice people," Hendrickson added. "We do that, we're no better than them."

Sarah was silent for a moment before she finally gave in. "Okay, but if we can't think of something soon than we're trying it Ruby's way." She just realized what she just said. "Did I seriously just agree with Ruby?"

"Whether you agree or not, we don't have a choice," Ruby said.

"Well, your choice is not a choice," Dean told her, angrily.

"Sam," she turned to look at Sam who's been silent all this time. "You know I'm right."

Sam tossed it around his head. They had two choices and he sure as hell wasn't going to use his niece.

Dean chuckled over at his brother, "Sam?" No response. "What the hell is going on? Sam, tell her."

Sam sighed, "Peanut, if Nancy is willing, let her do it."

"I'm fine with it if it'll save everyone out there," Nancy admitted.

"Hell, no," Sarah spat. "If we're gonna do it then it will be me."

Dean yelled, "Stop!" looking around the group. "Stop! Nobody kill any virgins. Sam, Sarah, I need to talk to you." He started walking out of the office and into the hallway. Sarah looked at Ruby before following after her father, and then Sam followed. "I can't believe you're actually considering this, Sarah."

"I do what my heart tells me to do, Dad and you said it once, too: this is a dangerous job."

"Yeah but you save that for a very last resort. You're not sacrificing yourself, Sarah. Sam, a little help, here," he turned to his brother.

"We don't have a choice, Dean and Nancy said she'd do it," Sam shrugged.

"That is not what I want to here, Sam."

"We're talking about saving thirty people. Innocent people who are all gonna die, along with everyone here."

Dean looked away for a moment. "It doesn't mean we throw away the rulebook and stop acting like humans. I'm not gonna let that demon kill some nice, sweet, innocent girl who hasn't even been laid."

Sarah cut in, "That's why I should do it. It's save her and it'll save everyone else, just let me do it."

"I said no, Sarah Lynn. If that's how you win wars then I don't want to win," he shook his head.

Sam asked, "Then what? What do we do, Dean?"

Dean shrugged, not saying a word. He looked down at his daughter. If she wanted to sacrifice herself, she was going to do it, fighting. He looked up again, "I got a plan. I'm not saying it's a good one, I'm not saying it'll work but it sure beats killing virgins."

"Okay," Sarah shrugged, "So what's the plan?"

"Open the doors," he said, "Let them all in. And we fight."


	113. Chapter 112- Jus in Bello (part 2)

**Family is Where the Heart is **

Chapter 112

Sarah stood at one of the entrances to the building, rechecking her shotgun. Her grandfather was there as well, much to her liking but Greg said he wanted to talk while everyone prepared and he wanted to make sure his granddaughter would be fine, after losing to another argument, this time not wanting Sarah to fight in the first place.

Greg was loading his own, having some experience with guns from hunting wildlife with colleagues. "So this is what you've been doing all this time? Hunting demons?" he was asking.

Sarah focused on her shotgun, shoving the last of the salt-filled ammo inside the barrels. "Demons, werewolves, vampires, ghosts," she said.

"Basically everything you used to read?"

"Yup, and some."

"And they're all real?"

Sarah cocked the barrel closed and cocked it to be ready when her father gave the signal. "All real," she repeated and looked up at her grandfather. "If it makes you feel any better, Bigfoot's a hoax." Sarah had heard Dean tell Hendrickson that.

"What gets me is that your father lets you near those things, lets you near weapons," Greg said, amazed and outraged. "You could get hurt, or worse, killed."

"I don't mess around or play with these things," Sarah assured him. "If I did, I'd get it from Dad. Besides, guns came natural to me. I remember when Dad took me shooting at Uncle Bobby's place that day we met. I could see how proud of me he was, in his eye. Ever since I started hunting, I feel I found my calling, what I've been yearning for all my young life. I rarely get in trouble anymore like I used to with you and Mom, may she rest in peace."

"So, your eye…what really happened to it?" he asked, curious.

"A Daeva, it's a shadow demon another demon named Meg was controlling to come after my other grandfather because she knew he would come to our rescue," she explained.

"And the car accident?"

"We had found the demon who killed my other grandmother, and Mom and Aunt Kyra," Sarah began.

Greg interrupted his granddaughter, "What?"

"A demon is what killed them, Papa," she told him.

"Your mother died of a brain tumor and your aunt died in a fire," he reminded her.

Sarah shook her head, "Mom had a tumor that would have gone away after a couple surgeries. It was the demon who enlarged it and killed her so there would be an excuse for you and Gram to search for Dad and get me into hunting. Aunt Kyra woke up while the demon was feeding me demon blood and it didn't like that she tried to get in its way so the demon pinned her to the ceiling and caught the place on fire."

"So is that Lilith the demon who did all that?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head again. "The demon that did all that is dead. Dad was the one to shoot him dead with the Colt, a special gun that could kill anything supernatural. That demon is no longer walking around or breathing."

"Wait, you said it was feeding you demon blood. What does that mean?"

Sarah stared at the floor, kneeled there on one knee, resting her left arm on her upturned knee. "I don't know," she shrugged. "I guess I have demon blood inside of me, and Mark said Mom knew which explains why she was so afraid of me."

"Your mom wasn't afraid of you, she loved you. You just frustrated her a lot," Greg shook his head, speaking softly.

"No, she was afraid, trust me. I saw the look in her eyes." Sarah looked up at her grandfather, "I don't know how she and the demon knew each other but whatever. I understand now why. She wasn't raised a hunter, Dad was and that's why he was never afraid of me, and that's why I eventually forgave her. She's still my mother, after all and honor her as God commands."

Greg seemed really impressed. "Wow, you sure have grown up the last few years," he complimented. "You seem more mature than what you were before."

Sarah looked ahead at the doors. "Yeah, hunting does that to you. My grandfather's dying wish was for me to be a kid as long as possible. That just because I had to be a hunter, doesn't mean I had to let myself grow up too fast."

"Speaking of that, why were you so intent on sacrificing yourself back there? What did you mean you had nothing else to lose?" Greg asked.

Sarah continued to stare at the doors. "You wouldn't understand. It's a family issue between Dad, Uncle Sam, and me."

Suddenly, her father's voice was heard, "All set?"

Sarah stood up at once. "Get ready, we don't have time to lag," she told her grandfather.

Greg stood up too. "Just remember, Sarah," he told her. "We're still family too."

She didn't say anything. Instead, Sarah whipped out her knife Dean had given her for Christmas, from her back pocket and flicked it open to kneel down and scratch a corner of the devil's trap away before standing up and closing the blade, sliding it back into her pocket and waited for the signal. "All set here, Dad!" she called back.

"Let's do this!" she heard him yell.

Sarah bolted to the left door and kicked away the salt which Greg did the same to the right side.

"Just tell me what to do, Sarah," he told her.

Sarah shoved the door open and backed away, holding the shotgun at the ready. Greg opened the door and hurried back to stand beside his granddaughter. They waited until the demons started dashing inside.

"Shoot!" Sarah told her grandfather and aimed at the first one, knocking it back.

Greg did not hesitate and shot the next one, backing up along with his granddaughter. More kept coming and the two of them kept right on shooting. When one managed to get close, Sarah jumped into the air to kick the demon in the chest, knocking them back. It impressed Greg a lot. He hadn't seen so much energy in her before Sarah was exerting.

Eventually, the two of them backed into the main office, meeting up with Sam and Dean. There was a point when Greg was paying more attention to Sarah and got attacked by one of the demons. Sarah held up her shotgun to shoot it but was sent back against the wall, along with her father and uncle, pinned there.

Greg sat up, painfully, "Sarah!" he called out.

The Winchesters struggled as Dean called out to Hendrickson, "Hendrickson, now!"

Soon, a recording of Sam's voice came over on the loudspeaker, speaking in Latin. The demons struggled against it, painfully. After what seemed like forever, they couldn't resist and black smoke shot out of their mouths, into the air and swirled into one big dark cloud before exploding. The Winchesters dropped to the ground and Greg looked over to see Dean struggle up on his knees to check Sarah, making sure she was all right.

Hendrickson walked in, panting like the Winchesters were and exchanged looks with them. They stood up and Dean just shrugged as Hendrickson chuckled. The lights came back on as the bodies were starting to come to.

Sarah walked over to her grandfather and kneeled down beside him, "You okay, Papa?"

"Yeah, but I think I'm too old for this kind of stuff," he replied and forced a chuckle himself.

"You kidding? You should see Uncle Bobby. He's around your age and one of the best. Of course, you didn't do so bad yourself." Sarah smiled at her grandfather which made him smile in return.

As everyone was being taken care of, the Winchesters talked with Hendrickson.

"I better call in," Hendrickson was saying. "Hell of a story I won't be telling."

"So, what are you going to tell them?" Sam asked, curious.

He smirked, "The least ridiculous lie I can come up with in the next five minutes."

"Good luck with that," Dean nodded at him. "Not to pressure you or anything but what are you planning to do about us?"

"I'm gonna kill you."

Sarah looked up at the man when she heard that, "Wait, what?"

"Sam, Dean, and Sarah Winchester were in the chopper when it caught on fire," Hendrickson explained. "Nothing's left. Can't even identify them with dental records."

Sam gave a small smile.

"Rest in peace, guys," he nodded.

Sarah grinned, "If only, right?"

Dean smiled down at his daughter and gripped the back of her neck, playfully. Each one exchanged handshakes with Hendrickson before turning to leave.

Outside, the Winchesters headed over to the impound yard where the Impala was parked when they heard Greg call out to Sarah. They stopped and looked over at the man standing by his own car, along with his wife. Greg and Beth started walking towards them. Dean prepared himself for a fight but it never came.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to fight with you, Dean. Not anymore," he assured the man which took Dean by surprise. "Look, I'm not too keen on my granddaughter doing something as dangerous as hunting and I think you're a horrible father for letting her do this, but after what I saw last night, I know now that she's in the best of hands."

"What are you saying?" Dean asked.

Beth agreed, "What are you saying, honey?" Beth had safely hid in one of the cells away from all the action so she didn't see anything.

Greg looked down at the ground, his hands hanging out of his jeans pockets. He looked over at Sarah, "Apart from the whole guns and killing part, I am proud of the person you've become, Sarah. I never thought of just how much your father was influencing you. I just saw what I wanted to see. To tell the truth I was a little jealous, I guess, especially when that day I saw you run to your other grandfather when I hit you. That ate me up inside, Sarah for a long time. I never intended on hurting you and I'm so sorry for what I did. For everything."

Sarah stared up at her grandfather in shock. She had never heard him apologize, not to her anyway.

"If you want to stay with your father, then that is okay by us." Beth tried to object but Greg stopped her. "It'll be fine, Beth. Our granddaughter is in good hands, trust me," he assured her.

"You really mean all this?" Sarah finally managed to speak.

Greg nodded at her, "With my whole heart, as God as my witness. But, can you at least write now and then, or call? We really would like to hear from you, especially now that we know what you do for a living. Just so we know you're still alive."

"I'll try but I make no promises," she admitted. Sarah then felt her legs move and went over to hug her grandfather around the legs. Greg lifted her up and hugged her in return.

"We love you, Sarah, we always have even when it didn't seem like it," he told her and put her down on her feet so Beth could hug her.

Dean cut in, "One question though that's been on my mind the past year."

Beth stood up straight, "What's that?"

"You sent our dad photos of Sarah. How come?" He shrugged, "Why not give them to me when I first picked Sarah up from your house?"

The couple exchanged looks between each other. "I didn't think of it at the time," Greg turned back to Dean. "Your dad and I talked a couple times over the phone. He personally asked me for some and so Beth and I went through our photo albums and mailed them to your father, hoping you would get them too."

"We found them in the envelope you sent them in when we were going through his things." Dean turned to look at Beth, "you wouldn't happen to have more embarrassing photos, would you?"

"Dad," Sarah moaned which Sam snickered to himself.

Beth lit up, "I have tons more. Would you like me to send some more?"

"Yeah, that would be great. Our home base is our friend, Bobby's house," Dean told her.

"We still have his information so I will get those photos out to you as soon as possible," she smiled.

Dean smiled in return, noticing his daughter turning a shade of red in the face. "I loved the one of her at three in the bathtub but somebody here decided to rip it up," he was enjoying embarrassing Sarah.

"Oh I have plenty of those and I think I have a couple home movies of it too."

Sam cleared his throat, "As much as I am enjoying this, we really should be leaving before somebody sees us since we're supposed to be dead now."

Greg and Beth exchanged looks between each other before turning back to the Winchesters.

"I will explain one day," Sarah assured them and the five of them parted ways. Beth still did not understand any of it though.

The Winchesters rested up in a motel before hitting the road. Sarah was actually able to catch an episode of Pokémon. It was a rerun but she wasn't picky. She lied on her stomach, hanging off the foot of the bed with Dean lying right next to her, engrossed in the anime as well.

Sam asked, "Explain to me again what is the point of this show?" But the only answer he received was a shushing sound. When there was a knock on the door, Dean motioned for him to answer it. Sam stood up and walked over to answer the door, which Sarah quickly moved her head when he walked in between her and the TV. It was Ruby. Sam stepped aside to let her inside and she walked over to the other two.

"Switch over to the news," she told them.

Sarah looked up at the demon and pulled out the remote from underneath her, reluctantly switching the TV over to the news. The female news reporter was talking about an explosion that had happened hours before at the police station and everyone the Winchesters had tried so hard to save were all dead.

Sam was the first to speak, "Must have happened right after we left."

Dean had sat up while the news reporter was talking.

"Considering the size of the blast," Ruby tossed three pouches to each of them, "smart money's on Lilith." Each of them caught them in their hands.

"What's in these?" Dean asked of the demon.

Ruby was crossing her arms again, "Something that'll protect you. Throw Lilith off your trail. For the time being, at least," she mumbled the last part.

"Thanks," Sam thanked her.

"Don't thank me. Lilith killed everyone." Ruby started walking across the room, "she slaughtered your precious virgin plus a half a dozen other people." Ruby stopped to look over at Dean, "So after your big speech about humanity and war turns out your plan was the one with the body count," and looked back at Sam, "do you even know how to fight a battle? You strike fast and you don't leave any survivors so no one can go running to tell the boss. So next time, we go with my plan."

Ruby turned to leave the motel room and stopped halfway, turning back around to add one last word. "Maybe you should listen to your kid more." Once that was said, she opened the door and was gone, the door closing behind her.

Dean closed his eyes at the floor and sighed to himself. When he opened them, Dean looked over at Sarah who was staring at the pouch in her hands and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Sarah looked up, "I don't blame you for what you did, Dad. You were just being my dad and looking out for me." At that, she was pulled in towards him and Dean squeezed her tight to him.

Why couldn't they ever catch a break?


	114. Chapter 113- Ghostfacers

**I know some of you wanted this episode but I couldn't do the whole thing since there isn't really plot in this. I hope Sarah's meeting with the Ghostfacers would suffice :)**

**Family is Where the Heart is**

Chapter 113

A couple weeks after the incident with Lilith and the explosion, the Winchesters went on a ghost hunt in an abandoned house. Sarah was glad to be back on a regular old ghost hunt just like they used to do before her family got yanked into dealing with demons being released from hell and her father's deal of going there himself. However, they ran into a bunch of clowns Sam and Dean were not excited to see.

Posing as police officers, they asked the group of camera-welding fools for some kind identification when one of the guys recognized Sam and Dean.

"Whoa. I know you," he told Dean, shining his flashlight on him.

Dean looked back at him for a second before he said, "Sure you do. Give me some identification. Come on."

"Hold on a second. I know the both of you guys," the guy scoffed and lowered his flashlight. "Yeah."

The guy's friend asked, "What?"

"Yeah."

Sam stared at him in realization. "Holy shit."

"What's wrong, Uncle Sam?" Sarah asked her uncle. "Do you really know these losers?"

"Uh, West Texas," Sam said, shifting on his feet, looking between the guy and his niece. "That time you stayed at Bobby's while your eye was healing and we had that tulpa to take out. Those goofballs your dad and I told you about that almost got us killed. Uh, Hellhounds or something?"

Dean looked over at the guy as it started coming back to him who he was. "Fuck me," he said in realization as well.

"We're not Hellhounds anymore," the guy stated, matter-of-factly. "It didn't test that well."

"What's going on?" the other guy asked.

"They're not cops, buddy," he shook his head at him. "No."

"So these are them?" Sarah asked, looking the two guys up and down.

"Well, one of them," Dean told her and asked the guy, "Ed, thought you had a partner, didn't you? A different guy?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"Is he around here somewhere?"

"Yeah, yeah. He's running around here, chasing ghosts."

Dean raised his eyebrows, "Okay. Well, listen, you and Rambo need to get your girlfriends and get out of here."

The guy Dean called Ed just laughed.

Sarah shined her flashlight on him, "It's not funny, bonehead. Either get your friends out here or you all will be killed."

"All right, listen here shorty, okay? We were here fir…" Ed was cut off when Sarah punched him in the groin, sending him to his knees.

"Call me, shorty again, I dare ya," she threatened.

Dean had a heck of a time keeping a straight face and tried to be stern. "Sarah, that wasn't…" he cleared his throat, "…necessary. What did I say would happen if you did that again and no one was threatening you first?"

Sarah groaned, "But Dad, he…"

"I don't want to hear any excuses, Sarah Lynn. You and I will be having a chat later after this job is over. As much as the idiot needed it, you don't just punch people in the groin for no reason. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir," she moaned at the floor and apologized to Ed who was helped up by his friend.

Much to the Winchesters' dislike, they had to work with the losers until the ghost was defeated. They had lost one of Ed's friends though and it devastated them but at least the ghost was destroyed and they showed the whole show to the Winchesters once they put it together.

"What the hell was that?" Sarah just blurted out when it was finished.

Dean patted her upper back, looking at the floor, "Way to be subtle, Baby Girl."

"Seriously, that was the cheesiest thing I ever seen and now I want to go throw up."

"That my young friend is reality which we will show to the world," Ed said.

Sarah raised an eyebrow up at him, forcing a grin. "Oh yeah, sure. Well, maybe you will get a few hits on YouTube then." The Winchesters stood up to leave.

Once outside, standing on either side of the Impala, they heard Ed and his friends scream and quickly slid inside and Dean drove out of there and decided to drive over to Bobby's place in Sioux Falls to see if his package had arrived. The guy had never been this much excited to receive any kind of mail before in his life as he was for this one. To be fair, besides credit cards, Dean had never received any mail before.

Calling ahead, Dean learned he did receive a package in the mail from Sarah's grandmother and basically floored it all the way there, pulling into the savage yard at first light the next day. The Winchesters greeted the old hunter first and Bobby brought the package into the kitchen as they ate breakfast.

Dean asked for Sarah's knife so he could cut it open. He wasn't expecting it to be a box and his curiosity got the best of Dean as he tore into it like a kid on Christmas morning. Once the box was open, he looked inside not only finding more photos but a couple stacks of DVDs as well, and along with some other stuff. He picked up the folded letter on top and unfolded it to read it out loud.

"Dear Dean," he read. "My husband and I had a long talk on the way home and he told me everything that happened. Though I greatly do not approve of what you are doing, at least our granddaughter is happy and cared for. That's what counts, I guess. I know you just asked for more photos but I figured you might want some other things like her school awards, past report cards, and honor certificates. We were so proud of her accomplishments despite what we didn't understand of her and I'm sure you will be too when you look through this box. Your own father was really proud when my husband told him all about her. The important thing you should know, that is if Sarah hadn't told you which she probably has, is how much she grew up wanting to meet you. I am sure that is only natural for any child who never knew their father. I'm also sure we're probably not your favorite people in the world considering we gave you trouble trying to get Sarah back, but if you ever want to, you are welcome over here for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. Take care and God bless you and yours. Sincerely, Beth. P.S. Give Sarah a hug and kiss for me. I miss her hugs and kisses and was so glad to get one that day."

"Wow," Sam said when his brother finished reading the letter. "I can't believe it."

Dean smirked, "Me neither," and tossed the letter on the table before looking through the box, pulling out a stack of papers to go through them, "Amazing."

Bobby asked, "What?"

"Honor roll, straight As, I'm surprised you don't have perfect attendance, Baby Girl. Don't they give out awards for that anymore?"

Sarah was sitting across from her father and stopped in mid-bite of her scrambled eggs. "Uh, yeah, they do. I was sick, sometimes," she told him, nervously.

Dean looked back at her but said, "Oh. Well, it happens sometimes. At least you didn't ditch like I used," and grinned which Sarah forced one too.

Sam shook his head smiling at his brother and reminded him how old Sarah had been, "Dean, who ditches first grade?"

He just told Sam to shut up with a smirk and took out a small trophy the size of Sam's they found in their father's storage unit and read the words on it, "Summer 2004, Youth Little League: Sarah Winchester."

Sarah perked up at that. "My little league trophy," she said, excitedly and reached across the table to take it from her father and look at it herself, before smiling up at him, "I kept this in my room until I could show it to you one day."

"You did, huh?" he smiled in return.

Sam was looking through the stack of papers now, sitting at the end of the table. He was looking over Sarah's past report cards, reading teacher comments. "Sounds like you were a fairly good student, Peanut," he praised, proudly.

Sarah just shrugged, "It's no big deal, really."

"But it is, Peanut. I am very proud to read what your teachers had to say about you."

She smiled and thanked her uncle.

Dean was now going through the photos that were in the box, secretly showing Bobby and his brother when Sarah wasn't looking the embarrassing photos and awed at the sight. Eventually it got Sarah's attention.

"What do you guys keep awing about?" she asked, looking between the men.

"Nothing," Dean said, trying to hide the last photo they were looking at.

"It's an embarrassing photo, isn't it," she nodded this time.

"Maybe," Bobby grinned at the little girl which made her face turn red and hide it in her folded arms on the table.

Sarah moaned, "You guys are horrible."

"But we love ya, Peanut," Sam assured her, reaching over to rub her back and turned towards the other two men, "Hey, should I boot up my laptop so we can watch those DVDs in there?" he nodded at the discs inside the box.

"Hell yeah," Dean replied.

Sam stood up and went outside to grab his laptop from the trunk of the Impala and booted it up at the kitchen table. Dean looked through the DVDs, trying to decide which one they should watch first. He spotted one that said, _Sarah Lynn's First Game_. Wondering if it meant her little league game, he passed it to Sam when he asked for one. Sam opened the disc drive and the case and popped the DVD inside which automatically popped up on the screen and after loading for a minute, started with a younger Sarah sitting in the middle of the backseat of a car dressed in a red little league shirt and a cap with a badger on the front, and the word Badgers on the front of the shirt.

"You all ready for your very first game, Sar Bear?" came Mark's voice from behind the camera.

The younger Sarah smiled, "You bet."

"Are you going to hit a grand slam?" he asked her.

"Yeah, right out of the park," she replied and turned to Emily who had been sitting on the opposite side of her. "Do you think Dad played baseball when he was my age, Mom?"

Emily was staring out the window, leaning on her left elbow. "I don't know, Sarah. Quit asking about your damn father," she told her, sounding like she was annoyed.

"Emily, don't curse in front of your daughter," Beth scolded her.

"Well, she needs to stop bringing the guy up, Mom. I'm tired of it."

Dean exchanged looks with Sam and Bobby before looking back at the computer screen. The video switched to when the game had started and Sarah was preparing to bat.

"Sar Bear, look over here," Mark had been walking up to the fence behind Sarah as she swung a few practice swings.

Sarah turned around and smiled before doing some more practice swings for the camera. "Make sure you get it, Mark. I'm gonna dedicate my first homerun to my dad in case he ever sees this."

"But what if he doesn't?" Mark asked.

Sarah shrugged, "I'll still dedicate it to him wherever he is. Besides, Miss Cathy says with God, all things are possible." When she was called up by her coach to bat, Sarah took off at a run.

Mark followed her with just the camera. "Kiddo, I wish I had the faith you have," he muttered.

Dean wrapped his arm around his daughter, exchanging smiles between each other before watching again as the ball was pitched, and Sarah swung and missed the first one as the umpire yelled, "Strike one."

The next one also flew by her. Sarah stepped away as her team's side of the crowd clapped and cheered her on. Taking a deep breath, she walked back to home plate and repositioned the baseball bat over her shoulder. The pitcher, which was the other team's coach, pitched another one to her and this time, it connected. Sarah hit the ball into outfield where a couple little kids were messing around.

The coach yelled for them to grab the ball as Sarah took off at a run, rounding first since they hadn't gotten it yet. It turned out both of the kids wanted to throw it and had started fighting over the ball, giving Sarah the chance to round second, then third. It wasn't until she rounded third did the ball get thrown finally and she raced towards home plate even though her own coach was yelling for her to stay at third which Mark was telling her too. The freckle-faced kid on third threw it to the catcher who had dropped the ball and stumbled to get it as Sarah slid into home plate, bringing up a cloud of dust.

The crowd on Sarah's team's side cheered loudly as she stood up and was declared safe. Her whole front of her uniform was covered in dirt as she walked over to the dugout and was showered with praise from her coach and teammates before she reached the back where Mark was now standing on the other side of the chain-link fence.

"Did you get it, Mark?" she asked, breathing hard.

"You bet, the whole thing," he replied.

"Good," she smiled. "For a minute there, I thought I was gonna have to have you cut me being struck out, out when you edit this." They laughed before Mark praised her. "Mom, did you see that?" Sarah called over to where Emily was sitting on the bottom, metal bleacher.

"I saw it, Sar Bear. Good job. Next time, listen to your coach, okay? No need to be an over achiever," Emily called back.

Dean could see the look of disappointment in his daughter's eyes as she looked over at her mother. Slowly, Sarah removed her helmet and he was glad when her coach tried to cheer her up. He, Sam, and Bobby had burst into applaud like they were watching the World Series and Sarah had made the winning hit when she scored a homerun and took turns, hugging and kissing the little girl from where she had been sitting on her father's leg. Sam had switched seats with his brother so Dean could have the best seat of watching Sarah's childhood they missed.

They finished watching Sarah's game before switching to another DVD. This one was just random clips from the year Sarah was four years old, starting with Sarah just being a goofball.

"How old are you, Sarah?" Beth's voice asked behind the camera this time.

"I am three and a half years old," an even younger Sarah replied, happily, making Dean smile to himself.

"How much longer until your birthday?"

Sarah kneeled down like a frog, thinking for a second before jumping up into the air, "Two months and five days."

"How old will you be?"

"Four," Sarah replied again. "Hey, look what I can do, Grammy." Sarah hurried over to the center of the room and tucked herself into a ball on the floor and somersaulted, landing crookedly on her back.

"Beautiful, angel," Beth praised her, "Simply beautiful."

Sarah smiled up at the camera. "I can do a handstand too," and tried to attempt a handstand but was only able to stand for a half second. To a little kid, that was enough.

As Sarah watched herself, she couldn't help hear a sniffle and looked back at her father to see a tear on his face. "What's wrong, Dad?" she asked.

Dean smiled back at his daughter, "Nothing, Baby Girl. You're just…so beautiful." He then pulled Sarah into a hug and held her close as the video switched to Sarah on top of a boy two years older than she was, holding his arm behind his back.

"Say uncle," she kept telling the boy. "You have to say it or I won't let you up."

"No, never," the boy struggled against the little girl.

"Then I can't let you up," she said.

Mark laughed from behind the camera, "Sarah, let your cousin up, I think Jacob has had enough."

"Not until he says uncle," Sarah looked over at Mark.

Bobby couldn't help snicker at the scene. "Sound familiar, Dean?" he asked.

Dean looked up at the older man, "what do you mean?" he asked, confused.

"You used to hold Sam down like that until he said uncle," Bobby reminded him.

Sam remembered it too. "Hey, that's right. You did pin me down like that, all the time when we were kids."

Dean laughed at that, "Oh yeah, forgot about that. It was too easy not to, Sammy." He slapped Sam on the shoulder, playfully to which Sam said, "Bite me." Dean turned to his daughter again and held his hand up for a high five as the little boy on the video yelled uncle in defeat. "Awesome job, Sarah," he praised her, proudly. Sarah returned the high five.

The video switched to another day. Emily was actually smiling and in a good mood as she held Sarah in her arms. "Tomorrow's your big day, Sar Bear," she told the little girl. "Are you excited for your birthday?"

Sarah nodded, brightly.

"What would you like for your birthday?" Emily asked her.

"For my daddy to be there," Sarah blurted out.

Well that smile did not last long. "Honey, you need to stop, okay? Your father doesn't care a thing about you. If he did, I'm sure he would be here."

Anger rising inside of him, Dean slammed the laptop shut and stood up to walk over to grab a beer from the fridge, stating he didn't want to watch anymore.

Sarah asked her father, confused, "Why not, Dad?"

"Because in almost all of them it has your mother saying…just forget it. I can't believe your grandmother wanted me to hear that." He walked out of the kitchen.

"Dean, I'm sure Sarah's grandmother probably didn't think about the things her daughter said about you. She just thought you wanted to see Sarah growing up and see the highlights you missed," Sam tried to assure his brother.

Dean stared at the floor with his back to them. "I just can't take hearing how she could tell our daughter all that," he admitted.

"But, Dad," Sarah spoke up. "I never believed it. I never wanted to. I kept telling myself Mom was wrong, that you did care. That you just didn't know and how you would have cared if you did know, and I was right."

He ran his left hand along his hair as he sighed. "I need some air. I'll be back in a few." With that, Dean walked outside to be alone for a while. Sam and Bobby exchanged looks between each other as Sarah stared after her father even after he was gone. She just stared at nothing.


End file.
